Adolescents’ emotional competence in relation to sociodemographic factors: a study on regulation, hardiness, and self-awareness

Emotional competences are key factors influencing adolescent health, stress management, and adaptive functioning. Understanding how these skills relate to sociodemographic factors is essential for designing targeted interventions. This cross-sectional study examined 1340 adolescents (Mage = 13.54 ± 0.65 years) from English medium schools, using standardized measures; Emotional Regulation (ER) Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents, Singh Psychological Hardiness scale (SPHS), and Self-Awareness Scale. Findings showed that 59.1% demonstrated adequate cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression, while 78.1% reported moderate psychological hardiness and 35.5% exhibited low self-awareness. Significant associations emerged with gender, parental education, and birth order (p < 0.05). Females exhibited higher cognitive reappraisal and self-awareness scores (p < 0.001), whereas later-born adolescents had poorer psychological hardiness (p = 0.004). Adolescents from joint families showed lower odds of poor emotional suppression (OR = 0.74, p = 0.023). Increased mobile use and longer screen time significantly predicted poorer outcomes across emotional domains, particularly psychological hardiness (OR = 7.32, p < 0.001) and self-awareness (OR = 2.65, p < 0.001). Therefore, sociodemographic factors and excessive screen exposure significantly influence emotional competence, underscoring the need for integrative interventions emphasizing digital literacy, resilience building, and family support to enhance adolescent mental health which align with SDG- 4.