Social support and risk of victimisation: the mediating role of emotional intelligence

ABSTRACT

During adolescence, parental and peer support and emotional intelligence (EI) may play a protective role against the risk of becoming a victim of bullying. This study aims to assess the role of perceived parental and peer support in promoting individual EI, reducing the risk of victimisation. The sample consisted of 348 Italian middle and high school students. Victimisation risk, perceived parental and peer support, and EI were measured using questionnaires. A cross-sectional study and a Structural Equation Model with latent variables were conducted to assess the mediating role of EI in perceived parental and peer support and victimisation risk. Results indicated that EI fully mediated the association between perceived parent (β = .20, p ≤ .001) and peer support (β = .10, p ≤ .01) and victimisation risk. These data suggest the need to structure training to promote support in the social and family context to increase students’ EI and thus reduce the risk of victimisation among students.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional intelligence
• parental support
• peers support
• risk of victimisation
• Italian adolescent students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luana Sorrenti

Luana Sorrenti is Associate Professor in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Messina. Her main research interests include the emotional-motivational factors involved in school performance and student well-being.

Concettina Caparello

Concettina Caparello is psychologist qualified and PhD student at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro. Her main research interests include emotional, motivational, and learning factors involved in student well-being and school performance.

Arianna Nicita

Arianna Nicita is a psychologist and PhD student at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro. Her main research interests include PTSD in children, cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD.

Angelo Fumia

Angelo Fumia is a recent psychology graduate student from the University of Messina. His research interests include the social-emotional, motivational, and learning factors involved in students’ learning processes, as well as the psychological factors related to adolescents’ well-being, in a psychoneuroimmunological perspective.

Carmelo Francesco Meduri

Carmelo Francesco Meduri is a psychologist qualified and PhD student at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro. His main research interests include social-emotional, motivational, and learning factors involved in students’ well-being and learning process.

Pina Filippello

Pina Filippello is Full Professor in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Messina. She has published many journal articles and book in the areas of the behavioral and learning problems in children and adolescents. His main research interest includes the emotional-motivational factors involved in school performance.