LOW INCIDENCE OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GIFTED PROGRAMS

This report summarizes a comparison of 675 gifted and 322 regular educ ation students (grades 2 or 3) on the incidence of behavior problems a s rated by parents using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and by teachers using the Teacher Report Form of the CBCL. After cont rolling for grade and minority status, there were no significant diffe rences between gifted and regular education students in the incidence of any form of behavior problems as rated by either teachers or parent s. The small group of gifted education students rated as having a clin ically high level of total behavior problems did not differ from a com parable group of regular education students in the kinds of behavior p roblems they exhibited. Agreement between parent and teacher ratings w as surprisingly low, indicating the need to consider both sources of i nformation in evaluating a child's overall behavioral adjustment.