| The study examined parents' help-seeking behavior during the gifted identification process. The literature on help seeking reveals an extensive body of research. However, the research exploring parents' help-seeking behavior for gifted children is nonexistent, despite the fact that children identified as gifted frequently experience academic, social, emotional and behavioral problems. Parents of children who had been identified as gifted were surveyed to (a) identify the number, type and variety of informal and formal sources parents consult when they suspect their child is gifted, and (b) identify socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity) associated with these patterns of help seeking. Informal sources included family members, friends, parent groups, Internet research, and books and articles on giftedness. Formal sources included teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, and other mental health professionals. Of those surveyed, 86% reported that academic issues were important or very important in their decision to seek help during the gifted identification process, while 66% reported that social, emotional, or behavioral issues were important or very important in their decision. Parents reported consulting an average of four informal or formal sources of support, and the majority of parents reported equal use of informal and formal sources. Results indicated that, similar to help seeking patterns for mental health or medical issues, a vast majority of respondents consulted both informal and formal sources. Although the results of this study did not support a significant correlation between parents' overall help-seeking approach and socio-demographic variables, certain variables were significantly correlated with use of informal versus formal sources. |
