Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students
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)....
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00093/full |
| _version_ | 1819227187737264128 |
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| author | Robert W. Moeller Martin Seehuus Martin Seehuus Virginia Peisch |
| author_facet | Robert W. Moeller Martin Seehuus Martin Seehuus Virginia Peisch |
| author_sort | Robert W. Moeller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:37:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b6431a22a2c4a35871ab4a174d6ecc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:37:24Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b6431a22a2c4a35871ab4a174d6ecc02022-12-21T17:50:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-01-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.00093499794Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College StudentsRobert W. Moeller0Martin Seehuus1Martin Seehuus2Virginia Peisch3Department of Psychology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, United StatesDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesMental 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00093/fullmental healthcollege studentsemotional intelligencebelongingdepressionanxiety |
| spellingShingle | Robert W. Moeller Martin Seehuus Martin Seehuus Virginia Peisch Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students Frontiers in Psychology mental health college students emotional intelligence belonging depression anxiety |
| title | Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students |
| title_full | Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students |
| title_fullStr | Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students |
| title_short | Emotional Intelligence, Belongingness, and Mental Health in College Students |
| title_sort | emotional intelligence belongingness and mental health in college students |
| topic | mental health college students emotional intelligence belonging depression anxiety |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00093/full |
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