Emotional Intelligence and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A study on their relationships in young adults

Background and objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a large part of the world population to experience anxiety. The levels of Perceived Emotional Intelligence and emotional regulation can be key factors in modulating the levels of anxiety experienced and preventing the emotional disorders. The aim is to analyze how the IEP levels and forms of emotional regulation of reappraisal and suppression influence the anxiety experience. Materials and methods: 99 participants aged between 18 and 35 completed the Inventory of Anxiety Situations and Responses (ISRA-B) to analyze anxiety, the Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS-24) for IEP, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) for emotional regulation and a sociodemographic questionnaire and situations related to the experience with COVID-19. Results: The measured IEP factors predict anxiety levels, high attention and low clarity and repair predict different anxiety responses and in different situations in variable percentages. Reappraisal and suppression factors do not predict anxiety levels. Women experience more anxiety than men and those who have had relatives or friends who have suffered from COVID-19 experience less anxiety. Conclusions: High levels of attention to feelings and low levels of clarity and emotional repair are risk factors for experiencing different types of anxiety in different situations, while the forms of emotional regulation of reappraisal and suppression do not seem to be relevant, sociodemographic factors such as being a woman or one's own experiences in relation to COVID-19 seem to be risk or protective factors that should be studied to prevent anxiety in pandemic contexts.