Social-Emotional Adjustment, Subjective Well-Being, and Emotional Intelligence in Youth

One in five youth suffer from mental illness, and even more experience subclinical symptoms, yet this pathologic focus ignores factors of mental health that contribute to flourishing. The vast majority of research on emotional intelligence and subjective well-being has been conducted on adults and little is known about their relationship to social-emotional adjustment in youth, particularly across socioeconomic status and age. The present study examined the social-emotional adjustment (using the BASC-SRP and CBCL-YSR), subjective well-being (PANAS-C and BMSLSS), and teacher-rated emotional intelligence (Pfeiffer Emotional Intelligence Scale, Revised – Teacher Report) in 136 youth (61% female) across age (mean = 12.6 years old) and socioeconomic status (32% low income). Regression and moderation analyses did not reveal any significant relationships or moderating influences between the constructs and variables. Suggestions for future research to consider separately examining the factors of emotional intelligence in relation to components of subjective well-being and facets of social-emotional adjustment are discussed. Future research is strongly encouraged to further investigate factors of mental health alongside maladjustment and sub-clinical mental illness in an effort to clarify the complex relationship between these variables and inform the development of efficacious prevention and intervention programs for youth.