Exploring emotional intelligence through emotional journaling: a qualitative study of young students

This paper examines the emotional experiences of vulnerable Lebanese youth in light of the context of prolonged and uninterrupted social, political, and economic crises impacting Lebanon in recent years.

Conducted as part of the "Yes to Emotions in Youth" (YEY) program, which focused on emotional intelligence (EI) training at a semi-private school in Lebanon, the research analyzes the emotional diaries from 145 students (98 girls) aged 15-17. These diaries were analyzed using thematic analysis informed by Colaizzi's phenomenological method. The study adopts the framework of trait Emotional Intelligence and utilized Brasseur et al. (2013) model of five emotional competences: identification, understanding, expression, regulation, and utilization of emotions.

Four overarching themes were discerned: (One) Emotional identification: unpleasant emotions and triggers; (Two) Emotional identification: pleasant emotions and triggers; (Three) Coping and emotional regulation: maladaptive practices; and (Four) Coping and emotional regulation: adaptive practices. While the sampled population is, in general, attuned with, and shows competence in identifying emotions and their triggers, many of the youth participants struggled with regulating these emotions adaptively.

The findings highlight the disparate layers of EI-informed coping in relation to emotion identification and regulation among youth grappling with the precarity of daily life.