Trait emotional intelligence, coping, and occupational distress among resettlement workers

Trait emotional intelligence has recently emerged as a negative predictor of work-related distress. However, research that considers the mechanisms underlying the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and distress is lacking, in particular among workers with emotionally intensive occupations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the mediating pathway of coping behaviors in the relations between trait emotional intelligence, and work-related distress outcomes, namely secondary traumatic stress and job burnout in a sample of refugee resettlement workers.

Participants were 210 resettlement workers from six organizations in the United States who completed a questionnaire. Questions included self-reported measures of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, trait emotional intelligence, coping behaviors, and history of trauma. The majority of participants identified as White (64.9%) and female (73.6%). The average participant was 32.96 years old (SD = 10.22) and was employed in the same position for 2.64 years (SD = 4.67).

Unhealthy coping (e.g., substance use and denial), emerged as a significant mediator of the relations between trait emotional intelligence and the outcomes, with 43% and 64% of the total effects for secondary traumatic stress and burnout mediated. Specifically, trait emotional intelligence negatively related to secondary traumatic stress and burnout via a reduction in unhealthy coping behaviors, rather than an increase in healthy coping ones.

Training programs promoting the psychological well-being of employees often focus on the promotion of healthy coping practices. These results suggest the potential value of including trait emotional intelligence training in the development of such programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).