Emotional intelligence on suicidal ideation and mental health

Considering the increasing suicide cases among Indian students all over the country, the present study intended to analyze whether emotional intelligence correlates significantly towards suicidal ideation and mental health among secondary school Indian students. Students (N=87) aged 15 to 17 were selected by the assistance of their school guidance and counseling teachers. Quantitative survey method was adopted as the method of this study. The respondents were responded to three types of questionnaire namely Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF) to measure emotional intelligence of respondent, The Suicide Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) and The General Health Questionnaire which widely used to measure mental health status. The result showed that there was a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation and mental health. Moreover, result also revealed significant relationship between suicidal ideation and mental health, which suggested that individual with lower mental health score has tendency to have suicidal thoughts. This study documented very critical notion of emotional intelligence on overcoming suicidal thoughts and improving mental health among students. Therefore, planning appropriate strategies to enhance students emotional competencies should be take into consideration in various sectors specially among Indian school students.