title: Parent-child attachment, academic performance and the process of high-school dropout: a narrative review.
abstract: Poor academic performance is a strong predictor of school dropout. Researchers have tried to disentangle variables influencing academic performance. However, studies on preschool and early care variables are seldom examined when explaining the school dropout process. We reviewed the literature on the relationship between caregiver-child attachment and academic performance, including attachment studies from preschool years, seeking out potential contributions to academic performance and the dropout process. The review was organized according to a model of four main mediating hypotheses: the attachment-teaching hypothesis, the social network hypothesis, the attachment-cooperation hypothesis, and the attachment self-regulation hypothesis. The results of the review are summed up in a model. There is some support for all four hypotheses. The review indicates that attachment and early care contribute substantially to dropout and graduation processes. Mediation effects should be given far more attention in future research.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health and Social Science , Harstad University College , N-9180 Harstad , Norway.|b Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences , UiT - The Arctic University of Norway , Tromsø , Norway.
authors.forename: Gro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ramsdal
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences , UiT - The Arctic University of Norway , Tromsø , Norway.
authors.forename: Svein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergvik
authors.affiliation: b Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences , UiT - The Arctic University of Norway , Tromsø , Norway.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wynn
mesh_terms: D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: academic; attachment; dropout; parent–child; school