When and How Do Emotional Intelligence and Flourishing Protect against Suicide Risk in Adolescent Bullying Victims?

Lourdes Rey, Sergio Mérida-López, Nicolás Sánchez-Álvarez and Natalio Extremera
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Lourdes Rey: Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Sergio Mérida-López: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Nicolás Sánchez-Álvarez: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Natalio Extremera: Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: This study contributes to current knowledge on the protective role of emotional intelligence and flourishing in cases of suicide risk (namely depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) in a sample of adolescent victims of traditional bullying. The proposed model tested the mediator role of flourishing in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and suicide risk together with the moderating effect of EI in the relationship between low flourishing and increased suicide risk. Considering an initial sample of 1847 adolescents (52.5% female), a subsample of 494 pure bullying victims (61.3% female) took part in this research. The main results showed EI to be linked to decreased suicide risk through levels of flourishing. Moreover, EI buffered the relationship between low flourishing and the associated suicide risk. Victimized adolescents with both low levels of EI and of flourishing reported higher levels of suicide risk than their counterparts with high EI levels. This suggests the protective role of EI of both predicting higher flourishing and reducing the likelihood of suicide risk among victimized adolescents with low levels of flourishing. Finally, the practical implications of these novel findings regarding the role of EI and flourishing in the prevention of suicide risk among victimized adolescents are discussed.

Keywords: suicidal ideation; depressive symptoms; flourishing; emotional intelligence; adolescence; bullying victimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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