Afterthought... have you looked into the plethora of articles on the Davidson database regarding underachievement? Often when reading through a large body of work like this, parental intuition will click with recognition upon seeing something in one or more of the descriptions. Time consuming as it may be, becoming educated on various topics can pay off in the long run because parents know their children best. Reading up on this now may save time down the road by knowing key terms, various theories, identifiers/triggers, and what to look for in general.
some links -
Davidson database:
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Davidson database, search for underachievement showed 175 results! Lots of resources.
UConn article:
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/Siegle/Publications/GCQDifferentiateUnderachieving.pdf Soapbox: If anyone may say "underachiever" please reject that as fixed mindset, preferring "underachievement", which denotes a temporary phenomena and exhibits the strength of a growth mindset. (More information on growth mindset and fixed is found on the Davidson database; Search for Dweck)
One aspect or application of a fixed mindset is that gifted kids, in order to be seen as "right" or "smart", may stop taking appropriate risks, possibly shunning a challenge and preferring easy work which may represent a level of underachievement. A fixed mindset may work against them and be exhibited as a lack of resilience.
