One in five youth suffer from mental illness, and even more experience subclinical symptoms,
yet this pathologic focus ignores factors of mental health that contribute to flourishing. The vast
majority of research on emotional intelligence and subjective well-being has been conducted on
adults and little is known about their relationship to social-emotional adjustment in youth,
particularly across socioeconomic status and age. The present study examined the socialemotional
adjustment (using the BASC-SRP and CBCL-YSR), subjective well-being (PANAS-C
and BMSLSS), and teacher-rated emotional intelligence (Pfeiffer Emotional Intelligence Scale,
Revised ���� Teacher Report) in 136 youth (61% female) across age (mean = 12.6 years old) and
socioeconomic status (32% low income). Regression and moderation analyses did not reveal any
significant relationships or moderating influences between the constructs and variables.
Suggestions for future research to consider separately examining the factors of emotional
intelligence in relation to components of subjective well-being and facets of social-emotional
adjustment are discussed. Future research is strongly encouraged to further investigate factors of
mental health alongside maladjustment and sub-clinical mental illness in an effort to clarify the
complex relationship between these variables and inform the development of efficacious
prevention and intervention programs for youth.
