Emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation in adolescents: The mediating and moderating role of social support

Abstract

The objective of this study has been to discover the mediating and moderating effect of peer support, family support and teacher support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation in adolescents. For this purpose, a total of 898 adolescents have participated (MAge = 13.55, SD = 1.66) responding to the WLEIS Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the adaptation of the School Climate Scale, and the Suicide Risk Inventory. The results indicate how: (1) teacher support and family support mediate the relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation; (2) regardless of gender and age, family support moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation, with emotional intelligence helping to reduce suicidal ideation only when there is medium or high family support; (3) peer support and age moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation, with peer support helping emotional intelligence reduce suicidal ideation only with older adolescents. These results showed how, in addition to working emotional intelligence in adolescents, introducing the participation of families in the learning process as far as possible, as well as encouraging quality relationships between peers, could have special effects in reducing one of the main causes of adolescent death, such as suicidal behaviour.