Emotional Intelligence Profiles and Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms in Emerging Adulthood

Introduction: In recent decades the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health has been analyzed. One conception of emotional intelligence is as a trait, composed of three dimensions: attention, clarity and repair. On the other hand, mental health is commonly measured by the presence/absence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Objective: In this study, the cluster analysis approach is used to determine the existence of different combination profiles of the three dimensions that make up the emotional intelligence construct, and to analyze possible differences in the symptomology reported by persons with different profiles of emotional intelligence. Method: The sample consisted of 328 university students between the ages of 17 and 31 years (M = 20.86; SD = 2.22), that is, in the stage of emerging adulthood. Results: Three differential profiles of emotional intelligence are obtained; these represent different combinations of attention, clarity and mood repair, and present significant differences in internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Conclusions: The utility of cluster analysis for determining the existence of different profiles in emotional intelligence has been demonstrated. The profile characterized by low levels of attention and higher scores in clarity and mood repair presents the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms; by contrast, the profile that presents a higher level of attention and lower scores in clarity and repair is associated with the highest scores in internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A profile with high scores in all three dimensions of emotional intelligence occupies the intermediate position in terms of reported symptomology.