The emotional development of gifted children was investigated in their family and school contexts in the 14-year Gulbenkian study in Britain. A three-way comparison was made of children labelled as gifted, nonlabelled, equally able children, and matched children, but randomly chosen for ability. Results indicated that emotional problems were not due to gifted ability per se, but to other disturbing matters, such as others' expectations or family conflict. Gallagher's (1990) questions about the gifted are considered in the light of the evidence from this work. Academic underachievement was found to be related to self-concept; their greater sensitivity was usually coped with; and negative predictions of the future did cause the gifted some worry. It is suggested that some, but not all, gifted children may need extra emotional support to fulfill their potential.
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