Pursuit of Happiness: The Relationship Between Adolescent Wellbeing, Psychological Distress, Problem Behaviours, and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is associated with adolescent wellbeing, and associations between EI and problem behaviours (internalising and externalising) are also emerging. The incremental validity of EI over wellbeing as a predictor of problem behaviours has received less attention but may offer a more nuanced understanding of the contribution of emotional factors that give rise to problem behaviours. We hypothesised that EI would be predictive of positive wellbeing and negatively related to psychological distress and further that lower emotional awareness and regulation were expected to predict internalising and externalising behaviours. In a sample of 422 adolescents, we conducted linear regressions to examine the relationship between EI scores and subjective wellbeing, eudaimonic wellbeing, and psychological distress. As expected, higher emotional awareness, expression and regulation predicted subjective and eudaimonic wellbeing and was inversely predictive of psychological distress. Hierarchical linear regressions examined if EI and measures of wellbeing and psychological distress predicted problem behaviours while considering differences in gender. Externalising behaviours were predicted by subjective wellbeing and psychological distress, emotional regulation, and gender, while internalising behaviours were predicted by subjective wellbeing and psychological distress, emotional awareness, and emotional regulation. Findings emphasised the relative importance of effective emotional regulation in relation to adolescent wellbeing, psychological distress, and problem behaviours which may have implications for targeted development of EI.