Academic Acceleration in Gifted Youth and Fruitless Concerns Regarding Psychological Well-Being: A 35-Year Longitudinal Study.

ABSTRACT: Academic acceleration of intellectually precocious youth is believed to harm overall psychological well-being even though short-term studies do not support this belief. Here we examine the long-term effects. Study 1 involves three cohorts identified before age 13, then longitudinally tracked for over 35 years: Cohort 1 gifted (top 1% in ability, identified 1972-1974, N = 1,020), Cohort 2 highly gifted (top 0.5% in ability, identified 1976-1979, N = 396), and Cohort 3 profoundly gifted (top 0.01% in ability, identified 1980-1983, N = 220). Two forms of educational acceleration were examined: 1. Age at high school graduation, and 2. Quantity of advanced learning opportunities pursued prior to high school graduation. Participants were evaluated at age 50 on several well-known indicators of ps

SUBMITTER: Bernstein BO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9355332 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature