Narrative development, academic performance, and social success in spanish children

This study analyses the relationship between narrative competence development, academic and social success in primary school students. Following a cross-sectional and mixed design, the study involved 192 Spanish children aged between six and nine years from 12 classes of a Primary School in Madrid. The narrative competencies, social and academic development were measured using the Matrix Reasoning Task of the Wechsler Intelligence Test, the verbal fluency subtest of NEPSY-II, the Bears Family Projective test, and sociogram questions. Parents and teachers completed a questionnaire about children’s academic and behavioral performance. Results show that the story microstructure and narrative cohesion increase with the storyteller's age, while social success among peers is related to more adapted and balanced stories. The story form sophistication and content balance predict academic performance and social success. The study highlights the significance of grasping social context, gender differences, and the interaction among social skills, academic success, and narrative aptitude in children's development.