Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing among Adolescents

 

Mrs. Lekshmi MS¹, Dr. SreejaI², Mrs. Premini S³.

¹Devi Bhavan, Theviyode, Maruthamala PO, 695551, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

²Professor and Head, Department of Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Ananthapuri Hospitals and Research Institute, Chackai, Trivandrum 695004, India

³Associate Professor, Community Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Ananthapuri Hospitals and Research Institute, Chackai, Trivandrum 695004, India

 

ABSTRACT:

Background/Objective: Adolescents of present world are suffering from emotional and behavioral problems. Community studies on emotional / behavioral disorders in children and adolescents conducted in India have yielded disparate point prevalence estimate of 2.6% to 35.6%.  This study was intended to assess the emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. The objectives of the present study were to assess the emotional intelligence among adolescents, assess the wellbeing among adolescents and to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. Methods: The research approach was quantitative and research design was descriptive. Sample consisted of 220 high school students of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and sampling technique used was multistage sampling. Tool used for the study were Schutte emotional intelligence scale to assess the emotional intelligence and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale to assess wellbeing among adolescents. Data were collected by self report. Results and conclusion:  Result revealed that the emotional intelligence among adolescents was 77.1% of the maximum score (165) and the mean score of emotional intelligence among adolescents was 127.3 (SD=13.40). Out of the total adolescents, 68.2% were found to have average wellbeing and 1.8% were found to have very low wellbeing.There was statistically significant positive correlation (r=0.571, p<0.01) between emotional intelligence and wellbeing. This study provides an insight about relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. High emotional intelligence improves the wellbeing of adolescents which in turn help them to achieve success in life.

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Adolescence is the period of transition when the individual changes physically and psychologically from a child to an adult.^[1]  World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescent as age group between 10-19 years. In India, the adolescent population constitutes a quarter of the country’s population which is approximately 243 million which in turn constituted 20% of the world’s adolescents.^[2]

 

 

Emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill or self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups. People who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence know themselves very well and are also able to sense the emotions of others. They are affable, resilient, and optimistic.^[3] The individual who possess all these features have good mental health, which is an essential part of holistic wellbeing.

 

Good mental health is central to the adolescent’s healthy development.^[4] A sound mental health play a vital role in the period of adolescence and also mental maturity is very important in this period because mental health is linked with physical health, social health, emotional stability and functioning at school and other places.^[5]

 

Assessment of emotional intelligence can help pinpoint ineffective coping strategies that can contribute to academic under achievement, dropping out of school, or the development of emotional and behavioural problems. Early identification of children with low emotional intelligence, could help to tackle these problems.^[6] To enable successful stress handling skills and academic achievement, it is highly important to develop their personality with emotional intelligence .^[7]Satisfaction and psychological wellbeing are indicators of good mental functioning. Individuals are in a state of psychological wellbeing if they have high degree of satisfaction with themselves, if their mood is good and if they only occasionally experience unpleasant emotions such as sadness, anger and inhibitions. In order to encourage a smooth transition from adolescence to adulthood, a good understanding of emotions for adolescents is important in determining their psychological wellbeing.^[8]

 

The study of emotional intelligence and wellbeing is very important today because of the increasing behavioural and emotional problems among adolescents. Since emotional intelligence is a master aptitude, a capacity that profoundly affects all other abilities, either facilitating or interfering with them, the need is felt to investigate the emotional intelligence. A few studies have been conducted in Kerala on emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. So the investigator was curious to assess the emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents in selected schools in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.      Assess the emotional intelligence among adolescents.

2.      Assess the wellbeing among adolescents.

3.      Determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents.

4.      Determine the association of emotional intelligence among adolescents with selected socio demographic variables.

5.      Determine the association of wellbeing among adolescents with selected socio demographic variables.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Population:

Adolescents studying in high schools of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

 

Sample:

Adolescents studying in high schools of a Government School, an Aided  and an Unaided school.        

 

Sample size:

The sample size for this study is 220

 

Assumption:

Emotional intelligence and wellbeing of adolescents may be related

 

Sampling Technique:

The sample consisted of adolescents studying in selected Government, aided, and unaided schools in Thiruvananthapuram district. Multi stage sampling was adopted for the study. Sampling was done in two stages. In the first stage, Schools in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation were divided into three strata, ie government, aided and unaided sectors. One school from each of three strata (government, aided and unaided) were selected randomly using lottery method. In the second stage, among the selected high schools from three strata, two divisions were selected randomly from each school and each division was considered as a cluster. Thus, sample constituted 220 adolescents from six clusters from three different schools.

 

Inclusion/exclusion criteria:

Students who were willing to participate in the study were included and students who were absent during the data collection were excluded from the study.

 

Tool:

(a) Questionnaire to assess socio demographic variables.

(b) Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale is a 33 item self report inventory focussing on typical emotional intelligence among adolescents. Scores can range from 33 to 165, with higher scores indicating more characteristic emotional intelligence. An internal consistency analysis showed a Cronbach’salphaof 0.90, and the two week test retest reliability of the questionnaire was 0.78.^[9]

(c) Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale is a 14 item scale covering subjective well being and psychological functioning. It relate to an individual’s state of mental wellbeing (thoughts and feelings) in the previous two weeks. The cronbach’s alpha of the scale was found to be 0.89 and test retest reliability of the scale was 0.83.^[10] Wellbeing was categorised as very low (14-32), below average (33–40), average (41–59) and above average (60–70).

 

Development/ selection of the tool:

The initial draft of the questionnaire to assess the socio demographic data was prepared by the investigator after a detailed review of literature, discussion with guide and other experts. After that the tool was given for content validity to six experts in the field of psychiatry, psychology and psychiatric nursing. The corrections were incorporated in the tool according to their suggestions. Emotional Intelligence Scale for adolescent and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale were used to assess the emotional intelligence and wellbeing respectively. The standardised tool was translated  to Malayalam and  then  retranslated back to English by language experts to ensure same meaning.

 

Ethical consideration:

Data collection was done after obtaining permission from the institutional ethics committee and school authority. Explanation regarding the study was given to the adolescents. After getting informed consent, questionnaire was distributed among the adolescents who met the inclusion criteria. It took 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

 

Statistical analysis:

The assessment of emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing was analysed using Karl Pearson correlation coefficient. The association between emotional intelligence among adolescents and selected socio demographic variables were analysed using independent ‘t’ test and ANOVA. The association between wellbeing among adolescents and selected socio demographic variables were analysed using chi-square.

 

 

 

RESULTS:

Distribution of adolescents according to the socio demographic variables:

The background characteristics of adolescents as compiled in Table 1 indicates that the mean age of adolescents was 14.1 years. Out of 220 adolescents, 54.1% (119) of them were males and 45.9% (101) were females. Majority 55% (121) were from rural area and 45% (99) were from urban area.

 

Table 1: The demographic characteristics of adolescents    (N=220)

Socio demographic characteristics	Frequency	Percentage
Age	Mean age = 14.1 SD- 14.1
Gender
Male	119	54.1
Female	101	45.9
Type of school
Government	69	31.4
Aided	72	32.7
Unaided	79	35.9
Class of study
8th	85	38.6
9th	106	48.2
10th	29	13.2
Religion
Hindu	150	68.2
Christian	39	17.7
Muslim	31	14.1
Domicile
Urban	99	45
Rural	121	55
Parent’s help in studies
Yes	181	82.3
No	39	17.7
Extracurricular activities
Yes	158	71.8
No	62	28.2

 

Assessment of emotional intelligence among adolescents:

As per table 2, the mean total score of emotional intelligence was found to be 127.3 and it is 77.1% of the maximum score (165). The mean score of subscales of emotional intelligence such as perception of emotions, managing own emotions, managing others emotions and utilization of emotions were found to be 36.9, 35.3, 31.7 and 23.5 respectively.

 

Table 2: Assessment of emotional intelligence among adolescents based on subscales                                                               (N=220)

Emotional intelligence Subscales	Mean	SD	Minimum	Maximum	Percentage of mean to maximum
Perception of emotion	36.9	4.9	18	50	73.8
Managing own emotions	35.3	4.9	19	45	78.5
Managing others emotions	31.7	4.3	16	40	79.3
Utilisation of emotions	23.5	3.6	11	30	78.4
Total	127.3	13.4	80	165	77.1

 

Assessment of wellbeing among adolescents:

Figure 1 shows that out of the total adolescents, majority 68.2% (150) of them were found to have average wellbeing, 22.7% (50) of them were found to have above average wellbeing, 7.3% (16) were having below average wellbeing and 1.8% (4) were found to have very low wellbeing.

 

 

Figure 1: Assessment of wellbeing among adolescents (N=220)

 

Relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents:

Figure 2 shows the correlation between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. The calculated ‘r’ value for emotional intelligence and wellbeing shows a statistically significant positive correlation (r =0.571, p<0.01).

 

 

Figure 2:Correlation between Emotional intelligence and Well being

 

Association between emotional intelligence among adolescents and selected socio demographic variables

As shown in table 3, there was statistically significant difference in emotional intelligence between males and females (t=2.7, df=218, P=0.008) and adolescents who engage in extracurricular activities had higher emotional intelligence compared to those who did not engage in extracurricular activities. (t=3.56, df=218, P=0.001)

 

Table 3: Association of emotional intelligence of adolescents with gender and extracurricular activities

		Mean	SD	Frequency	t	Df	P
Gender	Male	129.5	12.2	119	2.7**	218	0.008
	Female	124.7	14.4	101
Extracurricular activities	Yes	129.2	13.2	158	3.56**	218	0.001
	No	122.3	12.8	62

**Significant at 0.01 level

 

Table 4: Association of emotional intelligence of adolescents with class of study and type of school

		Mean	SD	Frequency	F	df	P
Class of study	8th	125.2	14.2	85	5.23**	(2,217)	0.006
	9th	127.0	11.8	106
	10th	134.3	14.8	29
Type of school	Government	131.7	12.5	69	5.84**	(2,217)	0.003
	Aided	125.6	15.2	72
	Unaided	124.9	11.7	79

**Significant at 0.01 level

 

Table 5:Association between wellbeing among adolescents and selected socio demographic variables

	Very low/ below average		Average		Above average		c2	df	P
	f	%	f	%	f	%
Age in years
12 – 13	2	3.1	50	76.9	13	20	21**	4	0.001
14	11	15.3	54	75	7	9.7
>=15	7	8.4	46	55.4	30	36.1
Type of school
Government	6	8.7	45	65.2	18	26.1
Aided	5	6.9	44	61.1	23	31.9	9.9*	4	0.042
Unaided	9	11.4	61	77.2	9	11.4
Domicile
Urban	10	10.1	75	75.8	14	14.1	7.56*	2	0.023
Rural	10	8.3	75	62	36	29.8

**Significant at 0.01 level * 0.05 level

 

As shown in table 4, there was statistically significant (F=5.23, df=(2, 217), P=0.006) association between emotional intelligence and class of study. Also the F value computed (F=5.84, df=(2, 217), P=0.003)  shows statistically significant association between emotional intelligence and type of school. Adolescents in government school were having higher emotional intelligence compared to aided and unaided school.

 

Association between wellbeing among adolescents and selected socio demographic variables:

Table 5 shows, statistically significant association between wellbeing of adolescents and socio demographic variables such as age (c²=21, df =4, P=0.001), domicile (c²=7.56, df= 2, P= 0.023) and type of school (c²=9.9, df = 4, P=0.042).

 

DISCUSSION:

In the present study, emotional intelligence was assessed among 220 adolescents. The mean score of emotional intelligence was found to be 127.3 (SD=13.4) and it was 77.1% of the maximum score. Compared to other subscales of emotional intelligence, mean score of ‘managing others emotion’ was high, which means that they have skills to enjoy others, hide negative emotions in order to avoid hurting others  and make others feel better when they are down. Adolescents’ mean score for the subscale ‘perception of emotions’ was low, which means that they lack the ability to recognize other’s emotions and not aware of their own emotions.  The result of the present study was supported by another study, which shows the mean score of emotional intelligence among Indian students was 125.7.^[11] So the finding of the present study and that of the earlier research confirm that the emotional intelligence among adolescents in current setting is good.

 

Out of the total adolescents assessed, 68.2% were found to have average level of wellbeing, 22.7% were found to have above average level of wellbeing and 1.8% were found to have very low wellbeing. The mean score was found to be 52.7 (SD=8.6). A similar study  done in Kerala to assess the wellbeing among adolescents revealed that, 88.8% of the adolescents were having moderate level of well being and only 10.4% of them were having high level of wellbeing.^[12] It can be inferred that wellbeing of adolescents in the present setting is comparatively good. This may be because of the parental help in their studies, better educational status of the parents and students’ involvement in extracurricular activities even though there was no statistical significant association between wellbeing and these variables. In the present study, there exist a statistically significant positive correlation between emotional intelligence and wellbeing (r=0.571, p<0.01).The results of the present study were consistent with findings of another study done to find out the relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing of school students in Sahib district of Punjab.^[13] The study revealed that there is significant relationship between emotional intelligence and well-being of school students. It can be inferred that adolescents with good emotional intelligence possess high level of wellbeing, which ultimately leads to happy life.

 

The present study revealed that emotional intelligence of males was significantly higher than females. The study was supported by another study to assess the emotional intelligence of adolescent boys and girls in Srinagar. The results revealed that adolescent boys were having better emotional intelligence than adolescent girls.^[14] One of the reasons for this is that males are a powerful member in our society and they are able to establish and maintain close personnel relationship and sustain that supportive relationship.

 

The present study revealed that there was statistically significant association between emotional intelligence and type of school. Adolescents studying in government school possess higher emotional intelligence than aided and unaided school. A similar study conducted to assess the emotional intelligence of adolescent students in relation to the type of school in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, revealed that Government and private secondary school students differ significantly on emotional intelligence.^[15] This study supports the present study findings. This finding may be because most of the private schools in Kerala is giving emphasis for academic achievements and this leads to stress among adolescents.

 

The present study revealed a significant association between emotional intelligence among adolescents and extracurricular activities. The study finding was supported by another study to assess the effect of emotional intelligence on academic performance and extracurricular activities in Foundation University, Islamabad. The result revealed strong relationship with emotional intelligence and extracurricular activities.^[16] Extracurricular activities play a vital role in the child development as it make them physically strong, socially strong and increase their intellectual capabilities.

 

The study revealed that there was statistically significant association between wellbeing and socio demographic variables such as age and type of school. The result of the present study was supported by another study done to explore distribution of psychological wellbeing among adolescents of Kerala, across their demographic variables mainly, age, gender, place of residence, type of school, religion and subject of study. Results revealed that age and type of school had significant influence on the psychological wellbeing of adolescents with (p<.001).^[17]

 

NURSING IMPLICATIONS:

The present study has got implications in the field of nursing education, nursing practice, nursing administration and nursing research.

Nursing education:

·        The nursing education is to be framed in such a way that it equips the nurses with essential knowledge regarding the importance of emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents.

·        The nursing curriculum should prepare nurses to assess emotional intelligence and wellbeing of adolescents, so that early identification of mental health problems can be done.

 

Nursing practice:

·        Community mental health nurse can do periodic assessment of emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents who have under academic achievement in the school setting.

·        Nurses should participate in adolescent clinics and participate in the counseling sessions.

 

Nursing administration:

·        Nurse administrators can plan and organize workshop in schools to improve the emotional intelligence and there by enhance the mental health of adolescents.

·        Mental health camps can be arranged for identifying emotional problems among adolescents.

 

Nursing research:

·        The tools used for the present study can be used for conducting further research in the same field.

·        Present study can be used as a valuable reference material for budding researchers.

 

CONCLUSION:

This study provides an insight about the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents. As emotional intelligence is one of the component of mental health, school authority should give more emphasis on emotional health of adolescents which is fundamental for effective learning. So the necessary life skill training and scientific guidance to improve emotional intelligence should be implemented by the school authority, which in turn improves their wellbeing. The study concludes that there is need for developing training program for promoting emotional intelligence and wellbeing among adolescents, which enable them to achieve success and mould them as a good citizen.

 

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3.       Olivier Serrat. Understanding and Developing Emotional Intelligence.Cornell University ILR School. Available form: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu /intl

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9.       Nicola S Schutte, John M Malouff, Lena E Hall, Donald J Haggerty, Joan T Cooper, Charles J Golden, et al. Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence,1997April;(14):8-11.

10.     Sarah Stewart Brown, KulsumJanmohamed. Warwick- Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale 2008 June. Available form. http://www.health Scotland.com/scotlands. health/ population/ Measuring-positive mental health.asp

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12.     RaphealJeny, Paul Varghese K. Psychological Well-Being and Anxiety among Adolescents Analysis along Wellness: Illness Continnum. International Journal of Research and Development. 2014 January;3(1):395-401.

13.     John NN, Meg A Ewuzie. Imperatives of emotional intelligence on psychological wellbeing among adolescents. American Journal of Applied Psychology. 2013; 1(3):44-48.

14.     FarheenaBano, Maria Maqbool, Shabir Ahmed Bhat. Emotional intelligence among adolescent boys and girls in Srinagar. Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science and English Language.2014 Oct-Nov;1(4):880-86.

15.     AnupamaKatoch. A study of emotional intelligence of adolescent students in relation to the type of school. International Journal of Behavioral Social and Movement Sciences.2013July;3(2):28-35.

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Received on 27.06.2017           Modified on 26.08.2017

Accepted on 02.12.2017     © A&V Publications all right reserved