A study of psychological health among students of gifted and nongifted high schools

Purpose of Study: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between depression, anxiety, stress and life satisfaction among gifted and nongifted high school students. Methods: The participants of this study were 670 students (349 girls and 321 boys) selected by random cluster sampling. They completed The Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale and 21-item version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS). Findings and Results: There was a significant negative relationship between depression, anxiety, stress and life satisfaction. The results of two-way ANOVA showed that girls had the better life satisfaction than boys. According to the results, nongifted students had the higher level of life satisfaction than gifted ones. On the other hand, the results of two-way ANOVA showed that girls had higher scores in anxiety and stress indexes than boys. Furthermore, the results showed that gifted students had the lower level of anxiety and a higher level of stress than no gifted ones. Conclusions: These findings provide some evidence for the existence of a negative relationship between depression, anxiety, Stress and life satisfaction. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.