Published: December 14, 1981

Psychologist Blames Stress for Gifted Students' Misbehavior

Orlando, Fla.--Some high-school dropouts, chronic truants, and classroom daydreamers may be very bright children who use inappropriate behavior as a way to ease the distinctive stresses they and others like them often experience in schools, according to a psychologist who studies gifted children.

Speaking at a session of the National Topical Conference on Gifted and Talented Children held here recently, Professor of Psychology Fred W. Clemens of Radford University said that these "stressors"--internal and external demands placed on the gifted student--may lead to burnout, a syndrome more commonly associated with adults. The condition may be characterized by excessive tiredness, inability to concentrate, school phobia, and other "psychosomatic problems," he told those attending the conference, which was jointly sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children and the Association for the Gifted.

The exceptionally bright or talented student may find stressful some classroom situations that do not trouble an average classmate, Mr. Clemens said. "Gifted children are faced with unrelenting demands, some of which lead...