Predicting academic skills in 9-year-olds: intelligence quotient, executive functions, and emotional intelligence

Introduction. There continues to be a lack of conclusive data on how IQ, executive functions and emotional intelligence, as a set of factors, contribute toward academic skills. Method. This lack prompted the implementation of this study in 34 children (9-year-olds), through the application of the following instruments: Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K BIT); Neuropsychological Evaluation of Executive Functions in Children (ENFEN); BarOn Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EQ-i:YV); Battery of Differential and General Mental Activities (BADyG) and Test of Analysis of Reading and Writing (TALE). Results. The results showed that mathematical skills were associated with executive functions (r=.62; p<.01), emotional intelligence (r=.35; p=.04) and IQ (r=.34; p=.04); there was also an association between literacy skills and emotional intelligence (r=-.45; p=.01). Moreover, the three variables as a whole were able to predict 51% of mathematical skills and 22% of literacy skills. Discussion or Conclusion. Cognitive and emotional processes underlie students' learning process, and these results help us understand the differential effect of the study variables on each academic ability. This reveals the importance of influencing variables subject to development, such as executive functions and emotional intelligence, in order to favor the development of students' academic skills.