Ability emotional intelligence in parents and their offspring

Analyzing when parental warmth but without parental strictness leads to more adolescent empathy and self-concept: Evidence from Spanish homes

Introduction

Classical research mainly conducted with European-American families has identified the combination of warmth and strictness (authoritative style) as the parenting always associated with the highest scores on developmental outcomes. Additionally, despite the benefits of empathy for prosocial behaviors and protection against antisocial behaviors, most research has considered the contribution of specific practices (e.g., reasoning or power assertion), but not so much the parenting styles. Similarly, family studies tend to study the relationship between parenting and global self-perceptions (self-esteem), but not so much those of each dimension (self-concept).

Methods

In the present study, 600 Spanish adolescents from 12 to 17 years old (M = 15.25, SD = 2.01) were classified within one of the four household typologies (i.e., authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian, or neglectful). Adolescent developmental outcomes were cognitive empathy (adopting perspectives and emotional understanding), emotional empathy (empathic stress and empathic happiness), and self-concept (academic, social, emotional, family and physical).

Results

The results showed that the indulgent parenting (warmth but not strictness) was related to equal or even better empathy and self-concept than the authoritative style (warmth and strictness), whereas non-warm parenting (authoritarian and neglectful) was consistently associated with poor results.

Discussion

Overall, the present findings seriously question that parental strictness combined with parental warmth (authoritative style) is always the parenting style related to the greatest outcomes. By contrast, it seems that reasoning, warmth and involvement, without strictness (indulgent parenting) help adolescents to achieve a good orientation toward others in terms of cognitive and affective empathy and a good self-evaluation in terms of self-concept.

Systematic review and meta-analysis: The association between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being in adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a psychological protective factor that can improve subjective well-being (WB) in adolescents. This study aims to establish the overall relationship between different EI models (performance-based ability model, self-report ability model, and self-report mixed model) and subjective WB in adolescents, analyze the affective WB and cognitive WB components, and examine the moderating effect of EI models on both types of subjective WB.

METHOD

We searched PsycINFO and WOS databases. Eligible studies reported an association between EI and subjective WB in adolescents aged 10-19 years using instruments that directly measure subjective WB. In addition, two meta-analyses were conducted, one for the relationship between EI and affective WB and the other for EI and cognitive WB.

RESULTS

A total of 41 studies were included, of which 37 were pooled in the meta-analyses. We found a significant positive relationship between EI and affective WB (estimated effect size = 0.35) and between EI and cognitive WB (estimated effect size = 0.27). Regarding EI models, self-report ability showed an estimated effect size of 0.33 for affective WB and 0.27 for cognitive WB. For the self-report mixed model, we obtained an estimated effect size of 0.42 for affective WB and 0.37 for cognitive WB.

CONCLUSIONS

Establishing a quantitative relationship between EI and subjective WB makes it possible to implement clinical and educational prevention measures. Introducing EI training in educational and clinical settings can increase subjective WB, significantly impacting the prevention of emotional disorders in adolescents.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Diabetes Management: A Systematic Review

Diabetes has been associated with affective disorders which complicate the management of the disease. Emotional intelligence (EI), or the ability to perceive, facilitate, understand, and regulate emotions, has shown to be a protective factor of emotional disorders in general population. The main objective of this study was to systematically review the role of the EI construct in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics and to observe how EI is related to biological and psychological variables. Comprehensive searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, and Cochrane without time limitations, for studies examining the link between diabetes and EI. A total of 12 eligible studies were selected according to the inclusion criteria. We divided the results into four sections: (1) EI and hemoglobin glycosylated (HbA1c), (2) EI training effects, (3) differences in EI between persons with diabetes and without diabetes, and (4) EI and psychological adjustment and well-being. The results showed negative correlations between EI and HbA1c, positive effects of EI training on quality of life, anxiety, and glycemic control, no differences in EI between people with diabetes and healthy individuals, and, finally, negative correlations between EI and different psychological variables such as diabetes-related anxiety and distress, and positive correlations with quality of life, well-being, and marital satisfaction. This systematic review offers a starting point for a theoretical and practical understanding of the role played by EI in the management of diabetes and reveals that EI is a promising protective factor for biological and psychological variables in this population.