Depression and Emotional Intelligence– Gender and Age Differences in Youth

The presented research sought to examine differences in the results of measures of depression and emotional intelligence regarding age and gender and to determine their correlation in a sample of adolescents. The survey was conducted on a sample of 502 participants of both genders, ranging from 12 to 18 years (average age 14.9). Significant gender differences were found on the variable of emotional intelligence, more precisely on the dimensions of ability to express and label emotions and the ability to manage emotions. In other words: girls express, label, and manage emotions better than boys, and the highest values were obtained in 7th-grade students (primary school). A gender difference in the degree of depression was also obtained, with girls having a higher level of depression than boys, regardless of age. A negative association of depression with two dimensions of emotional intelligence was also obtained: the ability to express, label and manage emotions. A key finding from the research is that of a higher level of depression in participants with lower emotional intelligence, suggesting that emotional intelligence could be one of the protective and preventative factors of depression in adolescents.