Children‟s Attachment Styles, Academic Achievement and Social Competence at Early Childhood

Abstract

This is an expost facto research designed to determine the influence of children‟s attachment styles on academic achievement and social competence of pre-primary school pupils in Owerri metropolis of Imo State. The population consisted of all the 822 pupils in all the 25 Government approved nursery schools in Owerri. However, a sample of 280 pupils within the age bracket of 3 – 5 years in nursery classes 1 and 2 were drawn from 14 nursery schools through random and purposive sampling techniques. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the conduct of the study. The instruments used for data collection were “Attachment Styles Assessment Scale” (ASAS), “Social Competence Rating Scale” (SCRS) and “Pupils Academic Report Sheet” (PARS). The ASAS and SCRS were validated by experts in educational psychology and measurement and evaluation. Their reliability co-efficients of 0.79 (ASAS) and 0.83 (SCRS) were determined through test-retest method. The PARS was obtained from the records office of the schools under study. Data collected were analyzed with Mean (x), Standard Deviation (SD) and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results got after data analysis indicated that securely attached pupils achieved more academically than the insecurely attached ones; securely attached pupils were also found to be more socially competent than the insecurely attached ones; the difference that existed between the securely and insecurely attached pupils in academic achievement and social competence were found to be statistically significant. Based on the these results, recommendations were made including that school should organize seminars and workshops for parents on parenting styles during which the most effective ones are emphasized for adoption by parents.