Security of Attachment to Mother vs Father is Differently Associated With Emotion-Reading Ability and Trait Emotional Intelligence in Preadolescents.

Abstract

This study aimed at extending the knowledge on the relationship between attachment and emotional intelligence (EI) in preadolescents by considering differences in the figure of attachment (mother/father) and in the child's gender. Participants were 267 preadolescents (52.8% girls) aged 8 to 13 (M = 10.52, SD = 1.25), who filled in measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance in relation to each parent; trait EI; and emotion-reading ability (ERA). Overall, higher attachment security was associated with higher trait EI and ERA. In regression analyses, ERA was predicted by lower anxiety related to the mother in the total sample, and, additionally, by lower avoidance related to the father in the subsample of girls; no significant predictors of ERA in boys were observed. Trait EI, on the other hand, was predicted by avoidance in relation to the father in both the full sample and the subsamples of girls and boys.