Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence

Jana Runze; Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn; Annemieke M. Witte; Charlotte A.M. Cecil; Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg

doi:10.1002/jcv2.70013

Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence

Jana Runze
, Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn^*
, Annemieke M. Witte
, Charlotte A.M. Cecil
, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Article number	e70013
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	JCPP Advances
Volume	5
Issue number	4
Early online date	25 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.70013
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). JCPP Advances published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Funding

The authors thank the participating families for their enthusiastic involvement in the Leiden Consortium on Individual Development (L-CID). The authors are also grateful to the data-collection and data-processing team, including all current and former students, research assistants, PhD students and post-doctoral researchers for their dedicated and invaluable contributions. Marinus van IJzendoorn, Eveline Crone and Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg designed the L-CID experimental cohort-sequential twin study “Samen Uniek” as part of the Consortium on Individual Development (CID; Gravitation Grant 2013-2023 awarded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NWO Grant Number 024.001.003). The work of C.A.M.C. is supported by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program (FAMILY, grant agreement No 101057529). The authors thank Saskia Euser for training observers to code sensitive caregiving, discipline, and SBSK and Irene Pappa for helping with the computation of polygenic scores. The authors thank the participating families for their enthusiastic involvement in the Leiden Consortium on Individual Development (L‐CID). The authors are also grateful to the data‐collection and data‐processing team, including all current and former students, research assistants, PhD students and post‐doctoral researchers for their dedicated and invaluable contributions. Marinus van IJzendoorn, Eveline Crone and Marian Bakermans‐Kranenburg designed the L‐CID experimental cohort‐sequential twin study “Samen Uniek” as part of the Consortium on Individual Development (CID; Gravitation Grant 2013‐2023 awarded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NWO Grant Number 024.001.003). The work of C.A.M.C. is supported by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program (FAMILY, grant agreement No 101057529). The authors thank Saskia Euser for training observers to code sensitive caregiving, discipline, and SBSK and Irene Pappa for helping with the computation of polygenic scores.

Funders	Funder number
European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program
Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
SBSK
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	024.001.003
FAMILY	101057529

Keywords

IQ
polygenic scores
secure base script
sensitivity

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title = "Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence",

abstract = "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.",

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note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). JCPP Advances published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.",

year = "2025",

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AU - Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.

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N2 - 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.

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Intergenerational transmission of attachment: The role of intelligence

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