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Publication
Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Background: In their recent paper, Del Giudice and Haltigan argue that attachment
in childhood and attachment representations in adulthood are influenced by the
cognitive capabilities of children and parents, that would causally link parents'
attachment states of mind to children's attachment.
In the current pre‐registered study, we empirically explored the idea of an association between attachment and cognition using phenotypic child IQ and parent and
child IQ‐related polygenic scores as predictors of children's attachment behavior
and attachment representations.
Methods: We used data from the Leiden Consortium on Individual Development
study (L‐CID, n = 992), a two‐cohort longitudinal twin study, in which attachment
representations were measured in parents and their 9‐year‐old children using the
Attachment Script Assessment (ASA). Polygenic scores of IQ were computed for
parents and their children using PRSice‐2 and phenotypic child IQ was measured as well. We split the twin sample in two groups randomly to prevent non‐independence of data and conducted structural equation models.
Results: Neither parental nor child polygenic scores of IQ predicted representations
of attachment. In one cohort, phenotypically measured IQ predicted attachment.
Conclusions: This preliminary study did not find convincing support for a role of IQ
in the intergenerational transmission of attachment.
Description
Keywords
IQ Polygenic scores Secure base script Sensitivity
Citation
Runze, J., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Witte, A. M., Cecil, C. A. M., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2025). Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence. JCPP Advances. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.70013
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons Ltd