Attachment Orientations and Academic Persistence Among At-Risk Students: The Role of Perceived Teacher Emotional Responsiveness

The purpose of the present research was to examine the contribution of attachment orientations (anxiety, avoidance) to academic persistence among at-risk youth and non-at-risk youth and the potential mediating role of students' perceptions of teacher's emotional responsiveness. We conducted a cross-sectional survey, in which 411 adolescents (57.8% male) completed self-report questionnaires designed to evaluate anxious and avoidant attachment orientation, perception of teacher's emotional responsiveness, and academic persistence. The findings indicate an association of attachment anxiety with lower academic persistence and perception of the teacher as less emotionally available. In the same vein, perceived teacher emotional responsiveness was associated with higher academic persistence. In addition, at-risk youth perceived their teachers as less emotionally available and displayed lower academic persistence than non-at-risk youth. Finally, the perception of the teacher's emotional responsiveness mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment and academic persistence: students who scored higher on avoidant attachment perceived their teachers as less emotionally responsive, which, in turn, predicted lower academic persistence. In conclusion, the findings emphasize the importance of teacher responsiveness to students as a safe foundation that may affect academic and socioemotional functioning, especially among at-risk and educationally excluded youth. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.