Family Relations When a Child is Gifted

Researchers interested in the study of children in families have traditionally focused on the impact of a mother’s behavior upon each individual child or on the association between birth order and differences among siblings (Schvaneveldt & Ihinger, 1979; Walters & Walters, 1980). Empirical interest in nonlinear and noncausal interactions between parents and children (Walters & Walters, 1980); father-child interactions (Lewis & Pleck, 1979); the concurrent contributions of each spouse to a child’s behavior (Clarke-Stewart, 1978; Lamb, 1977; Park & O’Leary, 1975); and interactions among siblings (Schvaneveldt & Ihinger, 1979) has been relatively recent. Explorations into the family environments of gifted children have reflected the emphases of more general studies of children in families (Albert, 1980; Barbe, 1981;