Children's shyness, emotional intelligence, and internalizing behaviors

Abstract

Although previous studies have shown that shyness is a risk factor for internalizing behaviors, not all shy children are affected to the same extent, suggesting possible moderating factors. Emotional intelligence (EI) may be one factor that is protective against internalizing problems for some shy children. EI is a socio-cognitive skill that helps individuals understand and use their emotions, and the emotions of others, to achieve goals. Here we examined whether EI moderated the relation between children's shyness and internalizing behaviors. Participants were 115 school-aged children (Mage = 8.84 years, SD = 0.44 years, 49 girls). Parents completed online questionnaires about the child's shyness, EI, and internalizing behaviors. We found that EI moderated the relation between shyness and internalizing behaviors. Specifically, shyness was positively related to internalizing behaviors for children with low EI, but unrelated to internalizing behaviors for children with high EI. These findings suggest that EI may play a protective role against internalizing behaviors for some shy children in middle childhood.