Mental Health, Development, and Adaptation in High-Ability Children and Adolescents

High-ability children and adolescents constitute a heterogeneous population characterized by outstanding cognitive, creative, or domain-specific talents. High potential may shape distinctive developmental trajectories, bringing both developmental strengths and particular psychosocial challenges. While many high-ability youth demonstrate positive adaptation and psychological well-being, some may experience anxiety, perfectionism, social isolation, academic pressure, identity-related concerns, or difficulties arising from asynchronous development and twice-exceptionality. A more comprehensive understanding is needed of the individual, family, school, social, cultural, and neurodevelopmental processes that shape mental health and psychosocial development in high-ability children and adolescents.This Research Topic aims to advance an interdisciplinary and developmentally informed understanding of mental health and psychosocial development among high-ability children and adolescents. We seek to bring together research from child and adolescent psychiatry, developmental and clinical psychology, gifted education, educational psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience to examine both vulnerabilities and strengths within this heterogeneous population.The topic particularly encourages studies investigating risk and protective factors, developmental pathways, and mechanisms underlying psychological adjustment, well-being, and mental health outcomes. We are interested in the role of cognitive and emotional characteristics, self-regulation, identity development, family relationships, peer interactions, school environments, educational experiences, and broader sociocultural contexts. Attention to heterogeneity is especially encouraged, including differences across domains of ability, developmental stages, cultural backgrounds, and profiles of twice-exceptionality. We also welcome research addressing assessment, early identification, prevention, intervention, and evidence-based support. By integrating diverse perspectives, this Research Topic aims to move beyond deficit-based or overly idealized views of giftedness and promote a more nuanced understanding of the conditions that support healthy development and psychological well-being.We welcome original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, longitudinal and experimental studies, intervention research, qualitative and mixed-methods studies, and other article types accepted by Frontiers in Psychiatry. Topics may include, but are not limited to: mental health and psychopathology; anxiety, depression, stress, and perfectionism; psychological adjustment and well-being; social-emotional development; resilience and protective factors; self-concept and identity; family and peer relationships; school experiences and academic pressure; underachievement; asynchronous development; twice-exceptionality and neurodevelopmental diversity; cognitive and neurodevelopmental mechanisms; emotion and executive regulation; cross-cultural perspectives; developmental trajectories; assessment and identification; and prevention and intervention. Submissions should address implications for mental health, psychosocial development, psychological adjustment, or support for gifted and high-ability children and adolescents. Interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and multi-method approaches are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Yunfeng He, David Dai, Wen-Jing Yan, Huan Zhang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85936/mental-health-development-and-adaptation-in-high-ability-children-and-adolescents/magazine