A study in the relationship between emotional stability, intellectual ability, academic attainment, personal contentment and vocational aspirations.

This study investigated the relationship between ability, attainment and emotional stability, as measured by neuroticism, in underachieving, emotionally disturbed children. Forty children participated in four groups (mean age: 12.6, SD: 2.4; mean IQ: 103.3, SD: 13.6). Three experimental groups received different treatments in a therapeutic community, the fourth (control group) comprised children attending remedial units in mainstream education. For group 1 emphasis was on individualized education; for group 2 on psychological treatment and for group 3 on individualized education and psychological treatment combined. Pre- and post-experiment assessments were made on emotional stability, intelligence, reading, spelling and maths quotients, vocational aspirations and contentment with life. All the experimental groups showed significant improvements on all the criteria assessed. Group 3 improved most, P less than 0.001 on all criteria except contentment and vocational aspirations (P less than 0.01). The control group showed a deterioration over the experimental year on all criteria but mostly not at a significant level.