EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION ON SCHOLASTIC COMPETENCE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

The construct of Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been studied as a potential predictor of a good physical and psychological health. Among the different possible EI formulations, Trait EI can act as an important predictor for the good development of psychological wellbeing and social interaction during childhood, and individual differences in trait EI can be relevant for a positive adaptation, emotional competence, socio- emotional behavior and scholastic results within the school context. The present pilot study is a cross-sectional design that involved 150 children aged 8-10 years from several primary schools located in Sicily. This study is part of a larger research project and data collection is still ongoing. The main aims are to explore how TEI relate and could affect children scholastic competences such as scholastic integration and academic results, anxiety and depression and to explore gender and age differences in the selected sample in order to evaluate if these individual differences could be important to be assessed to explain children socio-emotional development. The Hypotheses are that TEI is positively related with better scholastic integration, conduct and results; High levels of depression and anxiety are negatively correlated with TEI; High levels of anxiety and depression will be negatively correlated with scholastic integration and results. The “Drawn Stories Technique” and the “Classroom Drawing” was used to measure emotional state of children and their scholastic integration respectively. Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Child Short Form was used for Trait EI. The Anxiety Scale Questionnaire for Children was used to assess anxious symptoms. The Children Depression Inventory was used to assess possible depressive symptoms. Preliminary results showed that Academic performance was measured through children’s final school grades and school conduct. Preliminary results showed that, consistent with the hypotheses, TEI was negatively and significantly correlated both with anxiety (r=-396;p<0,01) and depression (r=-521;p>0,01) Exploring these constructs may have practical implications and could be used for the identification of emotional as well as school maladjustment.