Family Environments of Underachieving Gifted Students

A comparison of the family environments of a sample of 22 underachieving gifted students to those described in studies of eminent and gifted achievers provides some themes which can be helpful to the parents of gifted children. Family structure, climate, and values showed some similarities as well as some dramatic differences. The main themes applicable to parenting are: (a) extreme amounts of early attention may confer too early adult status and attention dependence, (b) consistency between parents is more critical than any particular style of parenting, (c) independence for home-work completion is characteristic of achievers, (d) parent interest in and satisfaction with personal careers and intrinsic learning must be specifically communicated to children in order to provide appropriate achieving role models, and (e) reasonable standards of family organization appear important for achievement.