The role of perceived social support in predicting emotional intelligence among adolescents in the Dominican Republic.

The present study analyses the predictive capacity of perceived social support (significant people, family and friends) on emotional intelligence, considered from the skill model (attention, clarity and repair) and from the mixed model (intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, and adaptability), according to gender and age. Participants were 490 high school students, 300 girls (61.2%) and 190 boys (38.8%), subdivided into two age groups, 11 to 14 years (M=12.49, SD=.615) and 15 to 19 years (M=15.06, SD=.811) resident in the Dominican Republic. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) questionnaire was used to measure social support and the Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS) and the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version Short (EQ-i: YV-S) were used to measure emotional intelligence. In general, the results show that different sources of social support predict emotional intelligence among girls, and only family support predicts emotional intelligence among boys. These data point to the need to promote perceived social support in adolescence, especially among women, due to its greater relationship with EI, especially with EI ability.