Incidence of Emotional Disorder Symptoms and Emotional Intelligence in Slovak Secondary School Students Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The study aimed to replicate our research findings of 2019 by comparing the incidence of emotional disorder symptoms and global trait emotional intelligence (EI) and assessing the closeness of relationships of the observed variables in the context of the new COVID-19 pandemic situation. The data were gathered by self-report tests measuring levels of fears (KSAT), anxiety (STAI), depression (CDI) and trait emotional intelligence (TEIQue-ASF) in Slovak adolescents (N 270) aged 18 to 20 years (AM 18.42; SD 0.59) before (N 138) and during (N 132) the COVID-19 pandemic. Results revealed an increased incidence of emotional disorders (situational anxiety, stage fright, fear, and trait anxiety) and also a decreased level of global trait EI in the pandemic of 2019. Strong negative relationships were identified between global trait EI and trait anxiety (r -0.578; p ≤ .001), as well as medium negative relationships with overall fear (r 0.398; p ≤ .01) and stage fright (r 0.398; p ≤ .01). There were weak or no relationships between global trait EI and the other variables. Thus, higher global trait EI is related to a lower incidence of symptoms of specific emotional disorders. Our findings point to the validity of implementing socio-emotional learning elements into secondary school students' education.