Community violence and psychological adjustment in youth: Role of emotional-social intelligence

The current study examined the potential mechanism of emotional-social intelligence in the relation between exposure to community violence (CV) and psychological adjustment in ethnic minority youth. Using responses from 114 low-income youth ages 11 to 15 years old, results indicated that component parts of emotionality (i.e., awareness of one's feelings, recognition of others' feelings, managing negative emotions, and flexible problem-solving) were stronger predictors for youth adjustment (i.e., internalizing & externalizing symptoms & adaptive behaviors) than exposure to CV alone. Additionally, youths' abilities tomanage negative emotions significantly mediated all three indicators of adjustment. The mediational role of stress management in the relation between exposure to CV and psychological adjustment and areas for future research are discussed.