Social Support and Adjustment in Gifted Adolescents

We investigated the role of perceived social support in facilitating adjustment to a residential high school for the gifted in science and math. The relation between social support and adjustment appeared to depend on the sex of the student and the source of support, and the specific type of adjustment examined. Successful overall adjustment to the school environment was related to perceived support from family, whereas psychological adjustment showed a clear relation to perceived support in general. Perceived support from peers related to psychological adjustment only for male adolescents. Female adolescents appeared to seek other sources of support when they perceived support from a particular source to be low. Thus, adjustment problems for female adolescents appeared to result only when they were unable to locate other sources. © 1987 American Psychological Association.

Duke Scholars

Author Martha Putallaz Psychology & Neuroscience

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