Study of the family environment of gifted children in relation to some demographic variables perspectives: İstanbul bilsem

The family environment is known to have the utmost importance in the growth of gifted children. Bilsem provides direct and indirect education guidance and improvement services through various programs for these gifted children and their families. In this research which aimed to examine the family environment of gifted children in terms of various demographic factors such as social, cultural and economic status, the demographic factors of the sample group and the connection between these factors and the family environment were taken in to consideration. The sample group consisted of (one hundred) parents of children who were educated in İstanbul Bilsem during the 2007-2008 Academic Year. The parents who accepted to participate in the research were given ?The Familiy Environment Questionnaire? along with the data form that was prepared towards the objectives of this research. The findings were interpreted by the data derived from the data form; by extracting the frequences and percentage values.Hypothesis tests were used statistically to define the differences while obtaining the Questionnaire points according to incontinuous variables due to the prerequisities of the hypothesis tests, parametric and nonparametric tests were conducted depending on the situation.The parental distribution within the sample group was 52% mothers and 48% fathers.The majority of the parents (66%) that formed the sample group were aged between 36-45 were followed by parents aged 46 and above with the percentage of 31. The parents aged between 26-35 took last place by 3%. 97% of the parents in the sample group were married whilst 3% were divorced. As for as the educational background was concerned 4% of parents had bachelors degrees, 17% were highschool graduates, 16% had masters degrees, 6% had Associate degrees, 5% had PhDs and finally 3% were primary and secondary school graduates. Approximately 76% of the sample group was a graduate of higher education.When asked how the parents identify themselves considering their attitude towards children, it is seen that the most of them, 42 parents (42%), are permissive-indulgent, 39 parents (39%) are democratic, 7 parents (7%) are authoritative, 6 (6%) parents are permissive-indifferent, and 6 (6%) parents are overprotective.When the perception of their income level was asked, 56% considered themselves to have average income and 38% above average income. The parents who had the perception of having the highest and lowest income status were only 3%.It was observed that there was no significant difference between the total points that mothers and fathers seperately obtained from the Family Environment Questionnaire and the subscales sections such as cohesion and organisation-control. The attitudes towards raising children in the families of gifted children showed similarities amongst their mothers and fathers.The total points obtained from the Questionnaire by the parents above the age of 46 were considerably higher than the parents that were between the ages of 36-45. The parents aged 35 and below received significantly higher points than the parents in the 36-45 age group from the cohesion subscale section of the Questionnaire. It was observed that young parents showed similar attitudes towards raising their children. In the organisation-control subscale of the Questionnaire, again parents aged above 46 got higher points than the group of parents aged between 36-45. The higher the ages of parents were, the more importance they gave to the organisation and control in raising their children. In the case where there was a gifted parent in the family of the gifted child, it was observed that the parents had more difficulty in showing a parallel attitude towards their children than the family who had no gifted parents.Parents with different educational backgrounds showed different attitudes of cohesion towards their children. Parents, who had primary education showed more of a positive attitude towards raising their children, in comparison to any other group which participated, except for parents who graduated from high school.The importance given to cohesion in parents of high school graduates was higher than of the parents that had masters degree and PhD . Alike the parents with bachelors degrees, who gave more importance to cohesion in raising children than the parents with PhD.In the cohesion subscale section of the Questionnaire, there were differences observed amongst the parents who lived in a relative?s house or as tennants in comparison to the parents who lived in their own house. The total points of the Questionnaire gained from the parents not living in their own home, were lower.Parents of gifted children who got higher points from the cohesion subscale , also got higher points from the organisation-control subscale .