Abstract
Mental health problems are prevalent amongst today’s college students and psychosocial stress has been identified as a strong contributing factor. Conversely, research has documented that emotional intelligence (EQ) is a protective factor for depression, anxiety and stress (mental health problems). However, the underlying mechanism whereby EQ may support stronger mental health is currently not well understood. This study used regression analyses to examine the hypothesis that belongingness (inclusion, rejection) partially mediates the effects of EQ (attention, clarity, repair) on psychological well-being in a large sample (N = 2,094) of undergraduate students. Results supported the mediation hypotheses for all three EQ components and highlighted that the effects of rejection on psychological well-being were particularly strong. In line with prior research, our results indicate that prevention and intervention efforts with college students could explicitly target EQ skills in an effort to reduce perceived rejection and promote student well-being.
Highlights
While recognizing that many factors contribute to the high rates of psychopathology of college students, past research indicates that psychosocial stress is associated with mental health problems (e.g., Dusselier et al, 2005; Drum et al, 2009)
The correlations between the DASS Full Scale and the DASS subscales are presented for completeness, but should be interpreted with caution, since the full scale consists of the sum of the subscales, and the measures are not independent
This study sought to elucidate the association between EQ and adaptive functioning in college students
Summary
High rates of mental health problems have been documented amongst college students (for a discussion see Auerbach et al, 2016; Xiao et al, 2017). While recognizing that many factors contribute to the high rates of psychopathology of college students, past research indicates that psychosocial stress is associated with mental health problems (e.g., Dusselier et al, 2005; Drum et al, 2009). Participants who reported having higher levels of emotion regulation abilities were more likely to report having positive relationships with others, perceiving support from parents, and were less likely to have negative interactions with a friend (Lopes et al, 2003). Given that greater levels of each of the aspects of EQ have been associated with better interpersonal relationships, this study tested the hypothesis that belongingness (whether measured as level of acceptance, rejection, or both) mediates the effects of the EQ subscales (attention, clarity, repair) on psychological well-being
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