Attachment Patterns Relationship to Intelligence and Academic Achievement in School-Age Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the links among children's representations of attachment and their intelligence and academic achievement. John Bowlby's attachment theory is the framework used in this study to understand and explain differences in children's intelligence and academic achievement. Bowlby maintained that the quality of children's attachment to their caregivers exerts a strong influence on their ability and interest in investigating their environment. According to attachment theory, the quality of children's attachment to their primary caregivers would be expected to be associated with their intelligence and scholastic achievement. The findings from this study suggest that attachment patterns are significantly related to children's crystallized intelligence, which involves learning, knowledge and skills that are accumulated from past experiences. Attachment patterns were not significantly related to children's global intelligence or their academic achievement. The results of this study are relevant not only to attachment researchers but also school psychologists, parents, and teachers.