Spiritual Education Program for Managing Emotions in Intellectually Gifted Children

ABSTRACT Educational interventions with the intellectually gifted are increasingly focusing on social-emotional learning and techniques. Spiritual education programs are gaining prominence in working with gifted children. This article reports a study examining the effect of a spiritual education program (SEP) in managing emotions of intellectually gifted children. Post-SEP scores of the intervention group on the Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS) were lower than the control group. Intervention group children from African and South American cities as compared to those from Asian cities and the control group, intervention group gifted boys, Christians, and whose mothers were their primary caregivers, reported lower frustration discomfort posttest. Attendance at the SEP lessons and self-practice mediated the association between participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and outcomes. The principal component analyses supported the four-factor structure of the FDS and mean scores on emotional intolerance and achievement frustration subscales were lower. Results support the SEP as a social-emotional learning tool for gifted children.