Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Donna Heretick

Abstract

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability of an individual to perceive, use, comprehend, and regulate emotions. While relationships between EI and risk of drug abuse have been explored, possible mechanisms through which higher EI may serve as a protective factor remain undefined; there was a need to understand how EI was related to stress among women with substance use disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine resilience as a mediator between EI and stress, a risk factor, among women in treatment for chemical dependency. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Salovey and Mayer’s EI model. A sample of 109 women volunteers diagnosed with substance abuse disorders who were in long-term residential treatment completed an online survey. The instruments used for this study were the Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale-4. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed mediation model. Contrary to predictions, EI was not significantly related to stress. Thus, no mediation was possible. Significant relationships between EI and resilience, as well as between resilience and stress, were present but in directions opposite to predictions. Stress scores were unusually high among this sample. This study has implications to positive social change through understanding how EI and resilience predict stress among women with substance use/dependency disorders. It also may aid in identifying individual risk factors that may be targeted for treatment interventions.

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