Emotional intelligence, reactions and thoughts: part 2: a pilot study

This article, the second in a series of four, focuses on new mothers' perceptions of emotional intelligence, reactions and thoughts by means of a descriptive design. The study included 250 postnatal mothers (a response rate of 80%). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that, from a health promotion perspective, emotional intelligence might be an important component in relation to stress management and mental health. However, emotionally perceptive women seem to be affected by stress and depression to a greater extent. The relative strength of the associations between the scales also provides a valid and useful overall measure of new mothers' perceptions. Further validity scores for the scales must be obtained before any conclusions can be drawn.