Emotional Intelligence as a Mediator between Subjective Sleep Quality and Depression during the Confinement Due to COVID-19

Abstract

In March of 2020, as a consequence of the health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus, the State of Alarm and home confinement of the entire population was imposed in Spain. It is foreseeable that this exceptional situation will have psychological effects on citizens. In this work, the impact of confinement on perceived sleep quality and depression is evaluated through questionnaires, as well as the mediating role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in this relationship. Our results show, firstly, higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in women and young people associated with poorer perceived sleep quality, and secondly, that Emotional Intelligence intervenes as a mediator in this relationship through three different pathways. Worse perceived quality of sleep causes a greater number of depressive symptoms. In addition, this direct relationship may be enhanced by the mediating role of Emotional Intelligence, which we can express in three different ways: low perceived sleep quality and high emotional attention lead to greater depression; low perceived sleep quality and low emotional clarity increase greater symptoms of depression; and low perceived sleep quality together with low clarity and low emotional repair increase levels of depression. Therefore, we can conclude that improving the skills involved in Emotional Intelligence might increase perceived sleep quality, and thus reduce depressive symptoms, which in turn may improve the quality of life.

Validation of the Arabic version of the Assessing Emotions Scale measuring emotional intelligence in a Lebanese sample

“…Persons with low emotional intelligence are unable to monitor their adverse emotions and are more predisposed to mental health problems (Salovey, 2001). Several studies in diverse populations (e.g., university students [Barraza‐López et al, 2017; Ordoñez, 2020; Wells et al, 2021], community adults [Salguero‐Alcaniz et al, 2021], post‐partum women [Rode, 2016]) have shown that emotional intelligence is inversely associated with depression. In addition, high levels of emotional intelligence have been suggested to protect against the occurrence of depression (Żuchowicz et al, 2018).…”

Inteligencia emocional en población adulta: medición y correlatos, una revisión sistemática

“…Por otra parte, se encontraron diversas variables relacionadas a la IE. De modo que, la mayoría de investigaciones relaciona inversamente la IE con depresión (Obeid et al, 2021;Salguero-Alcañiz et al, 2021;Ardiles, 2020;Barraza-López et al, 2017;Rodríguez y Suárez, 2012), estrés (Obeid et al, 2021;Yadav et al, 2020;Ardiles, 2020;Barraza-López et al, 2017) y ansiedad, respectivamente (Obeid et al, 2021;Ardiles, 2020;Barraza-López et al, 2017;Liu y Ren, 2018). Estos resultados son concordantes con el modelo de Salovey y Mayer, (1990) en el que, la IE reduce la aparición y duración de emociones negativas que surgen en consecuencia de eventos estresantes (Sánchez-Álvarez at al., 2015).…”

Relationship of depression with empathy, emotional intelligence, and symptoms of a weakened immune system

“…A current study demonstrates that impaired emotional intelligence was correlated with symptoms of major depression and suicide attempts ( Okasha et al, 2023 ). The relationship between emotional intelligence, sleep quality and depression were evaluated in a study which concluded that improving skills related to emotional intelligence can increase sleep quality and thus reduce depressive symptoms ( Salguero-Alcañiz et al, 2021 ).…”