Interpersonal Support, Emotional Intelligence and Family Function in Adolescence

Ana Belén Barragán Martín, María del Mar Molero Jurado, María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes, Nieves Fátima Oropesa Ruiz, África Martos Martínez, María del Mar Simón Márquez and José Jesús Gázquez Linares
Additional contact information
Ana Belén Barragán Martín: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María del Mar Molero Jurado: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Nieves Fátima Oropesa Ruiz: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
África Martos Martínez: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María del Mar Simón Márquez: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
José Jesús Gázquez Linares: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Background: During adolescence, although the peer group exerts a strong influence on how the individual thinks and feels and on personal social values, the family still exerts a sustaining and supporting role. This study analyzed the relationships established between family function, emotional intelligence and perceived interpersonal support in adolescence. Method: The sample was made up of 1287 high school students aged 14 to 18 ( M = 15.11; SD = 0.91) in the province of Almeria (Spain). Results: The results showed moderate correlations between the intrapersonal emotional intelligence dimension and perceived availability of support (advice or orientation), and between the mood dimension of emotional intelligence and the three interpersonal support dimensions (appraisal, belonging and tangible). In addition, significant positive correlations were found between family function and the intrapersonal and mood dimensions of emotional intelligence, with medium and large effect sizes, respectively. Apart from that, the data revealed that students who could count on a more functional family referred to high empathy and acceptance by others and greater support in material or financial matters, followed by those with moderate family function. In addition, students from homes with severely dysfunctional families perceived less available support. Finally, students who said they could count on strong family function also scored higher on the intrapersonal factor of emotional intelligence. Conclusions: The implications of these findings for the development of emotional intelligence in early adolescence are discussed from the family context, considering the relationship between emotional intelligence and social support.

Keywords: adolescence; social support; familiar functioning; emotional intelligence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5145/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5145/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5145-:d:553439

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().