Perceived emotional intelligence and stress coping strategies in primary school teachers: Proposal for an explanatory model with structural equation modelling (SEM)

This study examined the role of components of Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI: attention, clarity and regulation) as predictors of coping dimensions in a sample of 251 primary school teachers (89 men and 162 women), with ages ranging from 22 to 60 years (M = 39.02; SD= 11.25). Participants completed a questionnaire measuring PEI, coping strategies, together with socio-demographic data. Using structural equation modelling, we propose a model that, as a whole, accounts for 39% of the variance in coping with emotions and for the 14% of behavioural coping with problems. This indicates that subjects with high clarity and emotional repair use behavioural, cognitive or focused on emotions problem coping strategies. Our results support the assumption proposed by Epstein (1998) whereby individuals with high EI would actively cope with stressful situations. The implications and limitations of this study are explained in the paper.