The role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between psychosocial factors and suicide behaviour in South African adolescents

[摘要] English: Globally and especially in South Africa there is a growing concern about the presenceof emotional disturbances among adolescents manifesting itself as suicide behaviour.Suicide behaviour among the adolescents is ranked as one of the top two causes of deathin South Africa. Hence, it is necessary to explore the various factors contributing to thisalarming situation. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to investigate the roleof emotional intelligence (EI) in the relationship between psychosocial factors andadolescent suicide behaviour, along with gender and racial differences.The study utilized quantitative methods with a non-experimental correlational design.The stratified sample participants included a total of 662 learners between grade 10-12from the Eden district, Western Cape Province. The total sample consisted of male(N=275), female (N=387), Black (N=342), Coloured (N=253), and White adolescents(N=65). The quantitative measures used to obtain information was The SuicidalIdeation Questionnaire, Adolescent Version (SIQ), The Life Stressors and SocialResources Inventory, Youth Form (LISRES), the Bar-On Emotional QuotientInventory, Youth Version (Bar-On EQI), and a biographical questionnaire. Throughmoderated hierarchical regression analyses, gender and racial differences weredetermined in regards to significant differences in suicidal ideation, interpersonalstressors-and resources, and emotional intelligence.As suicidal ideation has been proved to be a good predictor of suicide risk behaviouramong adolescents, findings in the current study indicated a high suicide risk (N = 229)among the total sample, bringing the incidence of suicide behaviour to 34.6%. Genderandracial differences were found in relation to interpersonal stressors-and resourcesand risk of suicide behaviour, with female adolescents reporting a stronger correlationbetween experienced interpersonal stressors (parents, family and school) and higherlevels of suicide behaviour. The Coloured adolescents, in comparison with the Whiteadolescents, reported friends as the main stressor that correlated with increased levelsof suicide behaviour. Friends as a resource were reported to be strongly correlated withlower levels of suicide behaviour amongst the Black and White adolescent sample, butspecifically among the White adolescents. The parent resource showed a significantnegative correlation with suicide behaviour amongst the total group of adolescents. Forthe White adolescents, experiencing school as a resource decreased suicide behaviorsignificantly.With regards to Emotional Intelligence (EI), Stress management had the mostsignificant negative correlation with suicide behaviour among the total group ofadolescents. Results suggested no gender differences between EI and suicidebehaviour. Racial differences were found among the Black and White adolescents onthe total EI score. A higher total EI score was more significant for the White group inrelation to decreased levels of suicide behaviour, than the Black group. The group ofWhite adolescents also reported a strong negative correlation with general mood EI(feeling optimistic and happy) and suicide behaviour.In determining the moderating role of EI in the relationship between interpersonalstressors and resources and risk towards suicide behaviour, gender-and racialdifferences were also reported. Among the male adolescents, poor adaptability andstress management EI led to an increase of suicide behaviour when parents and school,as stressors, were high. The findings also showed that the White adolescent group withlow and high adaptability EI led to a rise in suicide behaviour when increased levels offriends as stressor were reported, while the presence of poor adaptability EI was morestrongly associated with higher suicide levels among this group. Among the Colouredadolescent sample, the adolescents with higher levels of interpersonal EI displayed agreater increase in suicide behaviour with an increase in friends as stressor. This wasfound to be more pronounced when compared with the Coloured adolescents whoreported low levels of interpersonal EI. Pertaining to resources, the total group ofadolescents reported a strong negative correlation between high levels of interpersonalEI and suicide behaviour when there was an increase of parents as resource. Findingsfurther indicated that for the total group of adolescents with higher adaptability EI, therewas a decrease in suicide behaviour when there was an increase of boy-/girlfriend asresource. Among the adolescents with low levels of adaptability EI, there was a risk ofdisplaying higher levels of suicide behaviour, regardless if support was received froma boy-/girlfriend. Lastly, high levels of interpersonal EI showed a strong negativecorrelation with suicide behaviour among all the adolescents who experiencedincreases of boy-/girlfriend as a resource. Interestingly, although a strong positivecorrelation between low levels of interpersonal EI and suicide behaviour was expected,it was present irrespective of whether boy-/girlfriend as a resource increased or not.The findings of this study recommend EI skills training in mental health settings andeducational curricula in the prevention and intervention of suicide behaviour amongadolescents. The implementation of programmes aimed at enhancing social support andskills for parents, families, the school, and adolescents, are also recommended.Additional research is recommended to explore the dynamics of other personalvariables and nature of interpersonal relationships among the different gender and racialgroups within the South African context. These interventions could expand on theknowledge of the risk and protective factors involved in adolescent suicide behaviour.

[发布机构] University of the Free State