Social and Emotional Needs

Gifted students with ADHD experience anxiety at a higher level than their gifted peers who do not have a disability, in addition to poorer levels of happiness, self-esteem, and self-concept (Foley-Nicpon et al., Reference Foley-Nicpon, Rickels, Assouline and Richards2012; Fugate & Gentry, Reference Fugate and Gentry2016; Mayes & Moore, Reference Mayes and Moore2016). This research demonstrates that there is a need for social-emotional support within primary schools to develop the social-emotional competence (skills) to navigate these experiences. This competence may support gifted children with ADHD to better navigate the affective challenges they face and enable them to develop their ability to resolve conflict.

Social and Emotional Competencies

Social and emotional competencies are developmental attributes that are shaped by direct instruction and observed interactions (Junge et al., Reference Junge, Valkenburg, Deković and Branje2020). They are important predictors of health and an individual’s adaptation to their environment (Mikolajczak et al., Reference Mikolajczak, Avalosse, Vancorenland, Verniest, Callens, van Broeck, Fantini-Hauwel and Mierop2015). Social competence refers to an individual’s ability to interact effectively in social situations, while emotional competence refers to an individual’s ability to perceive their own and other’s emotions and respond in prosocial ways (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012; Domitrovich et al., Reference Domitrovich, Durlak, Staley and Weissberg2017; Junge et al., Reference Junge, Valkenburg, Deković and Branje2020). One study found that the primary challenge for twice-exceptional students was social problems with peers (Foley-Nicpon et al., Reference Foley-Nicpon, Assouline and Colangelo2013), and a recent systematic review found that twice-exceptional children tend to perceive themselves in a negative way (including challenges with lower self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy; Küry & Fischer, Reference Küry and Fischer2025). This research highlights the need for twice-exceptional students to learn important skills in conflict resolution and strategies for emotional regulation and wellbeing. A possible tool to provide this social-emotional skills development is bibliotherapy. Any bibliotherapy program for twice-exceptional students should be developed in collaboration with students, parents, and teachers.

The bibliotherapy process aims to support students in widening their repertoire of strategies they can use in times of social and emotional challenge (Hébert & Kent, Reference Hébert and Kent2000; Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018; Wilson, Reference Wilson2014; Zousel et al., Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013). The development of social and emotional competence can be influenced through observation (Junge et al., Reference Junge, Valkenburg, Deković and Branje2020), and bibliotherapy offers students the opportunity to observe social interactions and resolutions in literature. In a safe and familiar setting, students are supported to engage with literature and read about characters who face social and emotional challenges similar to their own (Heath et al., Reference Heath, Sheen, Leavy, Young and Money2005). Bibliotherapy offers rich possibilities for students to solve existing problems, resolve conflict with peers, and assist in the prevention of future issues socially and emotionally (Frasier & McCannon, Reference Frasier and McCannon1981). Bibliotherapy has been shown to increase students’ empathy, self-esteem, tolerance, and prosocial behaviours to manage affective challenges (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980; McCulliss & Chamberlain, Reference McCulliss and Chamberlain2013).

How Bibliotherapy Benefits Social and Emotional Needs

Social and emotional growth for twice-exceptional students can result from a bibliotherapy intervention when a clearly identified purpose is supported by dynamic interactions and discussion among the participants in each session (Prater et al., Reference Prater, Johnstun, Dyches and Johnstun2006; Sisk, Reference Sisk1982). This potential for growth results from rich discussion, the development of strategies that are modelled in the literature, and increased awareness of potential solutions to address affective issues (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980; Sevinç, Reference Sevinç2019; Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018). In turn, bibliotherapy empowers students to cope with foreseeable affective challenges by developing coping strategies, can facilitate relief from emotional pressure (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980), and provides opportunities for reflection on self and others’ feelings and thoughts (McCulliss & Chamberlain, Reference McCulliss and Chamberlain2013).

The research literature explores bibliotherapy with reference to mainstream students (Cook et al., Reference Cook, Earles-Vollrath and Ganz2006; McCulliss & Chamberlain, Reference McCulliss and Chamberlain2013; Zousel et al., Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013), inclusive and special education (Forgan, Reference Forgan2002; Iaquinta & Hipsky, Reference Iaquinta and Hipsky2006; Lenkowsky, Reference Lenkowsky1987), low socioeconomic status or students experiencing/at risk of homelessness (Prater et al., Reference Prater, Johnstun, Dyches and Johnstun2006; Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018), and those with lower emotional intelligence (Sullivan & Strang, Reference Sullivan and Strang2002). Furthermore, one experimental design study found that mainstream students in first to third grade had a greater understanding of perfectionism after the bibliotherapy program; however, the experimental group showed greater interest in the use of comics than literature (Zousel et al., Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013).

A growing body of literature has focused on the provision of bibliotherapy within school contexts, including guidance for teachers. However, some of this literature is descriptive rather than empirical. Several papers on bibliotherapy and mathematics anxiety or underachievement (Furner, Reference Furner2017; Furner & Kenney, Reference Furner and Kenney2011; Hébert & Furner, Reference Hébert and Furner1997; Wilson, Reference Wilson2014) suggest that teachers can implement this practice to support gifted students’ social-emotional needs in mathematics. Sullivan and Strang (Reference Sullivan and Strang2002) suggested that bibliotherapy could be used to support mainstream students’ development of emotional intelligence. Developmental bibliotherapy can exist as a natural extension of teachers’ existing pedagogical practices with literature to support social and emotional competencies (Heath et al., Reference Heath, Smith and Young2017). Bibliotherapy is uniquely suited to gifted students in primary schools because of their empathy, interest in others, high ability in reasoning, advanced vocabularies, and extensive understandings (Sisk, Reference Sisk1982).

Furthermore, for students who are gifted, there is a small research corpus to support the use of bibliotherapy with this population and its relevance to affective curriculum for gifted students. For example, recent research found that an 8-week bibliotherapy session, using an experimental design, led to greater social-emotional skills for gifted students who participated in the intervention (Tekel & Akgül, Reference Tekel and Akgül2024). These social-emotional skills included problem-solving, communication, coping with stress, and enhancing self-esteem (Tekel & Akgül, Reference Tekel and Akgül2024). Other studies that explored the use of bibliotherapy with gifted students also found improvements in self-esteem (Tofaha, Reference Tofaha2012) and problem-solving (Taş, Reference Taş2019). An earlier experimental design study found that the bibliotherapy program reduced levels of perfectionism in gifted children aged 9 and 10 (İlter et al., Reference İlter, Leana-Taşcılar and Saltukoğlu2018). The authors acknowledge that these studies have small sample sizes and that the results may not be generalisable. Taken together, these studies are beginning to make the case for the use of bibliotherapy with gifted children for social-emotional learning, needs, and competence (skills).

More specifically, there is empirical and academic support for the use of bibliotherapy across grades K-12 with diverse student populations (Cook et al., Reference Cook, Earles-Vollrath and Ganz2006; Gavigan & Kurtts, Reference Gavigan and Kurtts2011; Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018; Zousel et al., Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013) and gifted student populations in middle and secondary schooling grades (İlter et al., Reference İlter, Leana-Taşcılar and Saltukoğlu2018; Taş, Reference Taş2019; Tekel & Akgül, Reference Tekel and Akgül2024; Tofaha, Reference Tofaha2012). Although there is only a small empirical research base around the use of bibliotherapy with gifted students, this corpus does demonstrate positive effects on gifted students’ social-emotional learning, skills, and wellbeing outcomes (coping with stress and enhancing self-esteem).

For students with ADHD, there is a gap in the research on facilitating social-emotional competence through bibliotherapy; however, a systematic review on bibliotherapy conducted by Montgomery and Maunders (Reference Montgomery and Maunders2015) did assess the effectiveness of the intervention on externalising (ADHD), internalising, and prosocial behaviours. The authors concluded that bibliotherapy has a small moderating effect on children and adults with externalising, internalising, or prosocial behavioural challenges (Montgomery & Maunders, Reference Montgomery and Maunders2015). Therefore, bibliotherapy is a potential tool to support tailored social-emotional learning for gifted students, including those with ADHD.

The Four-Step Process

Bibliotherapy must have a clearly identified purpose and dynamic interactions to promote affective change and support gifted students’ growth socially and emotionally (Prater et al., Reference Prater, Johnstun, Dyches and Johnstun2006; Sisk, Reference Sisk1982). A bibliotherapy intervention can be implemented in the classroom to target a whole-class problem, an individual problem that affects the whole class, a small-group problem, or a personal problem (Frasier & McCannon, Reference Frasier and McCannon1981). Any of these four options can be used, but to ensure affective change, it is essential that the four distinct processes are followed with both meaningful discussion and reflective response activities (Hébert & Furner, Reference Hébert and Furner1997; Sullivan & Strang, Reference Sullivan and Strang2002).

The four distinct processes within a bibliotherapy session are identification, catharsis, insight, and universalisation (Hébert & Furner, Reference Hébert and Furner1997; Hébert & Kent, Reference Hébert and Kent2000; Lenkowsky, Reference Lenkowsky1987; Lucas et al., Reference Lucas, Teixeira, Soares and Oliveira2019). Within the identification stage, students recognise the character’s behaviours and thoughts (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980). Then, in catharsis, they start making connections between the character’s stressors or experiences and their own experiences (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980). They can identify, understand, and accept their emotions while witnessing the character solve similar affective issues (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021). As a result of this step, students experience a sense of relief emotionally, identifying that they do not face these challenges alone and that other people experience similar challenges (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021). In the insight stage, students begin to apply the solutions and strategies they have learned from the text to their own lives to address individual affective issues (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980; Pulimeno et al., Reference Pulimeno, Piscitelli and Colazzo2020). Lastly, Slavson added a fourth stage in 1950, universalisation, where students recognise that they are part of a universal group of people who experience similar social and emotional challenges and that they are not alone (as cited in Hébert & Furner, Reference Hébert and Furner1997).

Implementation in the School Context

Central to the bibliotherapy process is the use of literature that depicts a protagonist with the characteristics of those participating in the intervention; however, this is not always possible and should at least feature a protagonist who experiences the same social-emotional issues as the students. The use of an indirect approach, where the focus is on the social and emotional challenges the character faces, provides opportunities for students to empathise with the character, identify solutions, and develop insights that might otherwise be unavailable (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021). For students with externalising disorders like ADHD, the indirect approach offers opportunities to explore affective challenges without pressure and provides insight into behaviours they may exhibit and solutions for these, with well-chosen literature (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021).

Twice-exceptional students may be supported through bibliotherapy programs, such as those in Table 1, to discuss specific social-emotional problems and develop awareness of coping strategies and solutions (Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018). The combination of discussion, development of coping strategies, increased student awareness, and identification of solutions gives students the power to cope with foreseeable affective challenges (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980; Sevinç, Reference Sevinç2019; Tijms et al., Reference Tijms, Stoop and Polleck2018). A structure for bibliotherapy that includes these elements can be seen in Figure 1. The development of these coping strategies is essential to the social-emotional wellbeing of twice-exceptional students in primary school settings because they provide relief from emotional pressures (Cornett & Cornett, Reference Cornett and Cornett1980).

Table 1.

A Sample of Bibliotherapy Program Options

Figure 1.

The Structure of Bibliotherapy Interventions. Figure adapted from Schlichter and Burke (Reference Schlichter and Burke1994) and Zousel et al. (Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013).

To implement an effective bibliotherapy program, teachers must have an existing rapport with students, be able to captivate students’ engagement, and motivate students to engage interactively in group discussion (Prater et al., Reference Prater, Johnstun, Dyches and Johnstun2006; Sisk, Reference Sisk1982). Bibliotherapy moves beyond reading a book and asking questions, requiring teachers to facilitate discussions that nurture reflection, to provide students with considerable amounts of thinking time, and support the students to achieve insight (Schlichter & Burke, Reference Schlichter and Burke1994). Bibliotherapy in primary schools will be successful only if gifted students feel comfortable enough to engage in these discussions and opportunities (Hébert & Kent, Reference Hébert and Kent2000). An example of how this process could support the structure of a bibliotherapy program within primary school classrooms can be seen in Figure 1.

Bibliotherapy can be implemented using a simple structure that involves initial questioning and discussion about the affective topic, the reading of the chosen text, time to think about the text, participation in response activities, and then a follow-up discussion as a group (Schlichter & Burke, Reference Schlichter and Burke1994; Zousel et al., Reference Zousel, Rule and Logan2013). Carefully selected literature must, of course, meet the criteria in Table 2 to ensure affective change. During the follow-up discussions, students make connections between the character’s experiences of and response to the affective issue and their own lives (Schlichter & Burke, Reference Schlichter and Burke1994). To ensure that the bibliotherapy intervention has the greatest opportunity for success, students must be given ample time to reflect and engage in a response to the text, leading them to insight (Lucas et al., Reference Lucas, Teixeira, Soares and Oliveira2019). Throughout a well-crafted bibliotherapy intervention, students will journey through the four distinct therapeutic processes: identification, catharsis, insight, and universalisation (Hébert & Furner, Reference Hébert and Furner1997; Lucas et al., Reference Lucas, Teixeira, Soares and Oliveira2019; Sullivan & Strang, Reference Sullivan and Strang2002).

Table 2.

A Guide for Implementation

Potential Barriers to the Success of Bibliotherapy in Schools

There are some potential barriers that could limit the effectiveness of a bibliotherapy intervention, such as lack of rapport, time constraints, suitable literature, and teacher qualifications. To successfully foster affective change through bibliotherapy, teachers must first create a safe and supportive environment for students and motivate them to engage with the protagonist and the text in dynamic ways (Prater et al., Reference Prater, Johnstun, Dyches and Johnstun2006). Some students may not feel willing or comfortable discussing the affective issues in the texts (McCulliss & Chamberlain, Reference McCulliss and Chamberlain2013), and in these instances, the intervention should be discontinued. Teachers possess unique professional strengths that support the effective use of developmental bibliotherapy, including established relationships with students, deep knowledge of students’ learning profiles, and expertise in facilitating age-appropriate discussion and reflection in group settings.

Time constraints are a second potential barrier to the effectiveness of a bibliotherapy intervention. Bibliotherapy is a more involved process than a shared reading of a text with follow-up questioning. Teachers must provide significant time periods for reflection and opportunities to respond in creative ways to achieve insight (Schlichter & Burke, Reference Schlichter and Burke1994).

The third, and considerably large, barrier to the effectiveness of a bibliotherapy intervention is the availability of appropriate literature. Due to the different kinds of social and emotional issues that students may experience, bibliotherapy is not restricted to one type of literature. A variety of literary texts can be used, including picture books, chapter books, novels, biographies, poetry, videos, and podcasts (Baska & VanTassel-Baska, Reference Baska and VanTassel-Baska2018; Casares & Binkley, Reference Casares and Binkley2021). Although it is important to ensure that the selected literature is developmentally appropriate, older children can benefit from young children’s books too, with simplistic presentations of affective challenges sometimes being the most powerful (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021). Children’s literature today often addresses real-life issues (regarding social-emotional learning) and can provide opportunities for children to problem-solve in their own lives (Ginns-Gruenberg & Bridgman, Reference Ginns-Gruenberg, Bridgman, Kaduson and Schaefer2021). Through an awareness of each of these barriers, teachers implementing a bibliotherapy intervention can actively work towards reducing the influence of these barriers on the intervention.