The Role of Emotional Skills (Competence) and Coping Strategies in Adolescent Depression

Abstract

Depression is a state of low mood that can lead to several negative outcomes on thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and even physical state. With that in mind, it is important to detect individuals at risk of developing depressive symptoms early and identify protective factors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents emerged as one of the most vulnerable groups, with deteriorated anxiety and depression due to imposed social isolation, reduced social activities, and concerns over household status, health, and peer support. Distance learning through public service broadcasts and online tools lasted for several months, posing the need for adjustment. This study aimed to assess emotional competence and coping styles as predictors of depression in a sample of adolescents. The study was conducted in-person on a sample of 142 high school students. A high percentage of participants reported above-average levels of depression (21.1% severely depressed). On average, girls reported higher levels of depression than boys (t = 3.86, p < 0.01). Gender differences were also found in emotion-focused coping and avoidance, with girls scoring higher on both (p < 0.05). However, there were no gender differences in problem-focused coping or emotional competence. Hierarchical regression analysis concluded that perceiving and understanding emotions, expressing and naming emotions, regulating emotions, and avoidance were significant predictors of depression. This regression model explained 53% of depression variance, with the regulation of emotions being the most powerful predictor (p < 0.01). No mediating effect of coping styles on the relationship between emotional competence and depression was found in this study.

Influence of gender identity on the adoption of religious-spiritual, preventive and emotion-focused coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

“…Ultimately, we must also consider that women who use more emotion-focused coping may also require support due to increased emotional burdens during and after the pandemic. This is also corroborated by literature, which stated that females reported significantly elevated levels of stress and psychological problems, such as depression and anxiety during the current COVID-19 pandemic [ 4 , 79 ], and emotion-focused coping reduces negative emotions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as the stressor [ 74 ]. Men use more problem-focused coping while women use more emotion-focused coping and social support seeking [ 80 ].…”

“…The research also found a higher association between women and emotion-focused coping strategies. Females scored higher on emotion-focused coping, which highlighted gender differences in a study conducted in Croatia [ 74 ]. Conversely, the findings contradict a previous study in China, which reports that women are less likely to choose emotion-focused coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 16 ].…”

The impact of emotional intelligence on coping strategies for psychological trauma

“…This indicates that high emotional intelligence not only encourages better coping with stress, but also forms a general positive attitude towards the stressful situation itself. It does not limit the individual in the choice of coping strategies, but encourages the search for the most optimal coping strategies [23] . Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in experiencing a crisis, because a person in a stressful situation looks for solutions or feels discomfort trying to reduce the significance of the situation, distance himself/herself from it [24] .…”

The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Social Media Advertising Perception

“…Identifying triggers is important for the individual to understand his or her own emotions [27]. Naming emotions: It is the process of trying to describe one's emotions by naming them [28]. Keeping a diary: It is especially important to write down our feelings to recognize them [29].…”