Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Coping among Children in the United States: A meta-analysis

Thorndike included emotional intelligence (EI) when he defined social intelligence (SI) (Sharma, 2008) due to the influence of social and cognitive functions on SI and EI (Schutte et al., 1998). Salovey and Mayer later developed a Four-Branch Model for EI including the following skills: 1) perceiving/identifying emotions, 2) integrating emotions into thought processes, 3) understanding emotions and 4) managing emotions. A meta-analysis on the construct of EI revealed many available methods for evaluating the presence and extent of EI such as the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory and the Wong and Law EI Scale. These scales and questionnaires measure qualities and skills that are indicative of EI (Sharma, 2008). EI is positively related to resilience (McCrimmon et al., 2016), greater academic performance and self-efficacy (Shenaar-Golan et al., 2020). For example, adolescents report lower use of EI skills as cybervictimization increases, making cybervictimization a risk factor for developing and maintaining EI (Rey et al., 2018). The lack of significant differences for trait EI between children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and “typically developing” children may indicate steady EI competency during middle childhood that must be nurtured to avoid subsequent EI deficits (McCrimmon et al, 2016). Despite multiple extant studies on EI and children, the role of EI in coping among children has not been clearly explored. This on-going meta-analysis research is aimed at exploring the relationship between EI and coping among U.S. children. Understanding how EI impacts children’s coping will enhance social workers’ ability to apply age-specific strengths-based approaches when serving children