Invariance of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Construct Across Clinical Populations and Sociodemographic Variables

Abstract

Recent research has shown that cultural, linguistic, and sociodemographic peculiarities influence the measurement of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI). Assessing trait EI in different populations fosters cross-cultural research and expands the construct’s nomological network. In mental health, the trait EI of clinical populations has been scarcely researched. Accordingly, the present study examined the relationship between trait EI and key sociodemographic variables on Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-SF) datasets with mental healthcare patients from three different Spanish-speaking countries. Collectively, these datasets comprised 528 participants, 23% from Chile (120), 28% from Peru (150), and 49% from Spain (258). The sociodemographic variables we used for trait EI comparisons were gender, age, educational level, civil status, and occupational status. Analyses involved Multigroup Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (to test measurement invariance) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Our results revealed significant between-country differences in trait EI across the studied sociodemographic variables and interactions between these variables. Measurement invariance across the datasets was attained up to the scalar level regarding gender and education (i.e., strong invariance), although analyses on age, civil status, and occupation displayed non-invariance. The resultant psychometric evidence supports the suitability of the TEIQue-SF for the accurate cross-cultural assessment of trait EI in mental health settings. It also highlights the importance of incorporating trait EI into extant psychotherapeutic frameworks to enhance non-pharmacological treatment efficacy.

The location of emotional intelligence measured by EQ-i in the personality and cognitive space: Are there gender differences?

“… Pérez-Díaz et al (2021) found scalar invariance (equal latent means) between genders in a sample of healthy subjects measured through the TEIQue. Furthermore, Pérez-Díaz et al (2022) found a metric (equal factor loading) and scalar (equal latent means) invariance in a clinical sample between men and women of the TEIQue.…”

Construcción de la carrera e inteligencia emocional como antecedentes de identidad vocacional

“…Este instrumento se ha utilizado ampliamente en el contexto español en estudios tanto con muestra de estudiantes universitarios, como de docentes de distintos niveles educativos, de orientadores, e incluso con muestra clínica (e.g., Cejudo & Delgado, 2017;Laborde et al, 2016;Pérez-Díaz et al, 2022).…”

Trait emotional intelligence as buffer of mood of in-service and pre-service teachers of preschool and elementary education during the impact of COVID-19

“…For the assessment of EI as a personality trait of teachers and students, we used the Spanish version (Pérez, 2003) of the TEIQue-SF [Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form] (Petrides, 2009), a questionnaire considered one of the most comprehensive, reliable and valid assessments of global EI as a set of personality dispositions that facilitate emotionally intelligent behavior (Pérez-Díaz et al, 2022;Pérez-González and Sánchez-Ruiz, 2014).…”