Neuroticism and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescence: A Mediation Model Moderate by Negative Affect and Self-Esteem

Different studies have revealed that high scores in neuroticism relate to feelings of guilt, flustering, low self-esteem, and insecurity in relationships with others. The main objective of this work is to analyze the relationship between neuroticism and emotional intelligence in the adolescent stage and try to go one step further in the study of that relationship through the formulation of a moderate mediation model in which negative affect participates as a mediating variable and self-esteem as a moderating variable.

The total number of adolescents amounted to 742, with a very similar sample in both sexes, 45.1% boys and 51.5% girls. They were between 13 and 19 years old (M = 15.63, SD = 1.244) and lived in the province of Almería, Spain.

First, our main results significantly reflected that the neuroticism personality trait increased negative affect as self-esteem decreased. Second, statistical analyzes showed that the effect of neuroticism on attention and emotional repair was mediated by negative affect, the effect being greater when self-esteem was lower. Therefore, negative affect was presented as a mediating variable in the relationship between neuroticism and attention and emotional repair, with self-esteem acting as a moderating variable in the model.

These findings have implications for professional practice with adolescents, since they highlight the importance of carrying out interventions that contribute to the development of self-esteem in the prevention of neuroticism since these actions can help moderate the effect exerted by the negative affect on emotional attention and repair, improving the emotional intelligence of the adolescent and, therefore, their psychological health.