Trait emotional intelligence predicts selfesteem and trait anxiety in adolescents / La inteligencia emocional de rasgo predice la autoestima y rasgo de ansiedad en adolescentes

Trait anxiety and self-esteem, as indicators of well-being, have been understudied in the literature that examines the relationship between emotional intelligence and well-being in adolescent development. Anxiety and self-esteem are emotion-based factors in adolescent personality and are expected to be related to Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) as an adaptive emotion-based capacity. The objective of the study is to examine the unique contributions of TEI on trait anxiety and self-esteem in adolescents in the context of personality. The study involved 807 adolescents ages 16-19 from central Slovakia and examined the predictive relationship of TEI (as measured by the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, TEIQue-ASF) separately on self-esteem and on trait anxiety after considering broad based personality (as measured by the Freiburger´s Personality Inventory, FPI) and cognitive abilities (assessed by Amthauer´s Intelligence Structure Test, IST). The results showed that TEI has strong bivariate correlations with both trait anxiety (r =-.65) and self-esteem (r = .62) that maintained significance in the regression analyses. With trait anxiety as a dependent variable the explained variance by TEIQue-ASF factors above personality traits was 6%. With self-esteem as the dependent variable TEIQue-ASF factors explained a greater amount of variance (9%) with none of the personality traits as significant. The overall findings suggest that TEI is an important factor in adolescent well-being through its associations with lower trait anxiety and higher self-esteem. (AU)

La ansiedad de rasgo y la autoestima, como indicadores del bienestar, han sido poco estudiadas en la literatura que examina la relación entre la inteligencia emocional y el bienestar en el desarrollo adolescente. La ansiedad y la autoestima son factores emocionales que contribuyen a la personalidad adolescente y se espera que estén relacionadas con la Inteligencia Emocional de Rasgo (IER), siendo ésta una capacidad adaptativa basada en las emociones. El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar las contribuciones únicas de la IER en la ansiedad de rasgo y la autoestima en adolescentes en el contexto de la personalidad. El estudio involucró a 807 adolescentes de entre 16 y 19 años de edad de la región central de Eslovaquia, y examinó la relación predictiva de la IER (medida por el Cuestionario de Inteligencia Emocional de Rasgo, TEIQue), en la autoestima, por un lado, y la ansiedad de rasgo, por el otro, después de considerar la personalidad de base amplia (medida por el Inventario de Personalidad de Freiburger, FPI). Los resultados mostraron que la IER correlaciona de manera robusta y bivariada tanto con la ansiedad de rasgo (r = -.65) como con la autoestima (r = .62), manteniendo su significancia en los análisis de regresión. Considerando a la ansiedad de rasgo como variable dependiente, la varianza explicada, a partir de los componentes del TEIQue y por encima de los factores de personalidad, fue del 6%. Con la autoestima como variable dependiente, los componentes de TEIQue explicaron una mayor cantidad de varianza (9%) sin que ninguno de los factores de personalidad fuera significativo. En general, los hallazgos sugieren que la IER es un factor importante en el bienestar adolescente a través de sus asociaciones con una menor ansiedad de rasgo y una mayor autoestima. (AU

Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence as Protective Factors against Cyber-Aggression: Analysis of a Mediation Model.

Cyber-bullying is becoming an increasing school and health problem affecting adolescents worldwide. A number of studies have examined risk factors and protective factors in cyber-bullying situations and their consequences on the psychological well-being of adolescents. Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are two personal resources that have been shown to have beneficial effects on the health and the social, personal and psychological functioning of young people. Nevertheless, little is known about these two variables in the context of cyber-bullying. The main purpose of this study was to examine the roles of gratitude and EI in cyber-aggression. Specifically, we hypothesised a mediational effect of gratitude in emotional intelligence-cyber-aggression link. A total of 1157 students aged 12-18 years (54.4% females) completed several questionnaires assessing gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire; GQ-5), EI (Wong and Law's Emotional Intelligence Scale; WLEIS-S) and cyber-bullying (European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire; ECIPQ). The results showed expected significant associations between the studied variables. Moreover, the structural equation model analysis confirmed that EI dimensions were indirectly associated with cyber-aggression via gratitude, even when controlling for the effects of socio-demographic variables. These findings provide evidence on why those adolescents high in emotional intelligence are less aggressive in cyber-bullying context and suggest possibilities for gratitude interventions to reduce aggressive actions by electronic means among adolescents. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The relationship between emotional intelligence and ego defense mechanisms.

The author examined the relationship between the components of emotional intelligence (perception of emotion, affect regulation, and emotional knowledge) and personality factors associated with adaptation, represented by the hierarchical model of defense mechanisms (M. Bond, S. Gardner, J. Christian, & J. Sigal, 1983). Bivariate correlation analyses yielded mixed results; the adaptive defense styles were correlated with overall emotional intelligence but not with the emotional perception and regulation components, as was hypothesized. Emotional knowledge was correlated with both adaptive and maladaptive defense styles and with general intelligence, as was expected. Implications for counseling and psychoeducational interventions are suggested.