The Importance Of Emotional Intelligence And Social Support For The Academic Success Of Adolescents With And Without Learning Disabilities

Even though empirical evidence shows that academic attainment is directly related to employment, income, job marketability, and psychological well-being approximately 10% of adolescents, include 29 to 50% of adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), do not complete high school. Therefore it is important to understand the factors that predict and foster academic success. This dissertation extended previous research exploring the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on academic success by investigating the influence of EI, grade point average (GPA), verbal cognitive intelligence (verbal IQ), socioeconomic status (SES), gender, peer social support and family social support on academic success as measured by grade point average (GPA). EI was measured using the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (Bar-On & Parker, 2000a), which consists of four dimensions: intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptability and stress management. The Social Support Behaviors Scale (SSB; Vaux, Reidel, & Stewart, 1987), measured perceptions of social support on five dimensions: emotional, practical, financial, advice/guidance, and socializing, separately for peers and family. In Study One, path models by gender explored the individual and interactive influence between GPA and verbal IQ, EI, peer social support and family social support. For 192 (96 males, 96 females) Grade 10 students, EI partially mediated, for males but not females, the relationship between verbal IQ and GPA. The influence of EI was determined by adaptability and stress management abilities. Neither peer nor family social supports were mediators. Participants in Study Two were 44 students (22 with LD). Those with LD had significantly lower IQ, GPA, Nelson-Denny Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension, WIAT Arithmetic, EI, peer social support, and family social support scores than those without LD. Further, EI, peer social support and family social support did not act as protective factors for adolescents with LD by buffering its impact. For adolescents with LD, reading comprehension and arithmetic were significantly correlated with GPA whereas for adolescents without LD, EI, family social support and vocabulary were significantly correlated with GPA.