Emotional and Social Intelligences as Predictors of Scholastic Anxiety, Depression, and Academic Results in Primary School Children

Abstract

Internalizing symptoms emerge early and can negatively affect engagement and achievement during the primary-school years. At the same time, children’s socio-emotional competencies may shape how they appraise and regulate school-related stress. This cross-sectional study tested whether Trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) and Social Intelligence (SI) are associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms and academic/behavioral outcomes, and whether these competencies distinguish clinical vs. non-clinical internalizing levels. Participants were 228 Italian primary-school children (8–11 years). Measures included the TEIQue-CSF (trait EI), a child-adapted TSIS (SI: Social Awareness, Social Information Processing, Social Skills), the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire for Children (scholastic anxiety), the Children’s Depression Inventory (depression; clinical cut-off = 19), teacher-reported grades (Italian, English, Mathematics), and behavior ratings. Analyses comprised correlations, binomial logistic regressions predicting clinical status, and hierarchical multiple regressions for grades and behavior. Higher trait EI was inversely related to scholastic anxiety and depression and reduced the odds of meeting clinical criteria for both outcomes. SI showed weaker, facet-specific links: Social Information Processing was the most informative SI dimension for Mathematics grades. Trait EI predicted higher language grades (Italian and English), whereas associations with behavior ratings were small or non-significant. Findings highlight trait EI as a school-relevant protective correlate of internalizing symptoms in late childhood, while suggesting that Social Intelligence relates more to academic performance. Implications for brief, classroom-based socio-emotional learning are discussed.