A trial of an emotional intelligence intervention in an Iranian residential institution for adolescents

Abstract

Aims:

As a vulnerable group in society, orphaned and abandoned adolescents are faced with various social issues as well as lack of healthy social skills that can lead to high-risk behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of emotional intelligence skills training on the social skills of orphaned and abandoned adolescents.

Methods:

The present study was an interventional research with a pretest-posttest design. The sample included 30 orphaned and abandoned male teen-agers, residing in a care center, who were randomly selected and divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group had four emotional intelligence-based training sessions. In this study, the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) was used to evaluate the variables. The results were analyzed, using SPSS Statistics 22.

Results:

The results showed significant difference between the mean MESSY scores in the intervention group before and after the intervention (p < .05). There was also a significant difference between the mean scores of the intervention and control group, following the intervention.

Conclusion:

An emotional intelligence-based training program can be effective in improving the social skill levels amongst orphaned and abandoned adolescents as a vulnerable social group.

Keywords

Orphaned and abandoned adolescents emotional intelligence social skills

Introduction

Orphaned and abandoned children and adolescents are among the vulnerable groups of society who are faced with numerous problems such as poverty, grief, neglect, and abuse. It has been estimated that there are approximately 143 million orphaned children and adolescents throughout the world (Purohit & Pradhan, 2017). In the absence of families or a guardian, orphanages or institutionalized care arrangements have also evolved – either formally or informally (Sherr et al., 2017). In some Asian countries, including Iran, there are residential institutions for the care of orphaned and abandoned children until they reach legal age. In Iran, these centers are in the form of small houses that are distributed in different parts of the city.

Orphaned children show poorer psychosocial abilities such as self-esteem and self-efficacy. Also, they are poorer in mental health conditions compared with the general population. Depression, anxiety, maladaptive behaviors, and behavioral problems are considered to be common psychological disorders in this group (Karimli et al., 2019).

Results from a cross-sectional study on the psychological well-being of 370 orphan and non-orphan children and adolescents (10–18) in the town of Jimma showed that among the orphan children, only 62 (33.5%) had overall obtained a high score in the psychological well-being scale, while 107 (57.8%) of their non-orphan peers had obtained a high score. The results of that study reveal that orphans have a significantly poorer psychological well-being than non-orphans of the same age (Hailegiorgis et al., 2018).

Orphaned children and adolescents often have multi-dimensional issues, especially adolescents who, as a result of vulnerability in emotional growth and dependence, are more susceptible to unresolved or complex grief and mental health problems that can affect their current and future lives (Mohammadzadeh et al., 2018). The death of one or both parents has a deep and lifelong impact on the psychological well-being of children. Orphans are more susceptible than others to anxiety, depression, and anger. According to studies, orphaned adolescents with HIV show more signs of depression, peer relationship problems, and post-traumatic stress compared with non-orphans (Demoze et al., 2018).

Results from one study indicate that improvement in social and life skills has been effective in reducing behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents residing in a care center. The reason for this is that life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable an individual to deal with the challenges and demands of life effectively (Sagone et al., 2020).

Nowadays, various methods are being applied to improve social and life skills in adolescents and children, an example of which is emotional intelligence (EI) skills. In a study on 4000 students in Iran, a positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence and school adjustment and between sensation seeking and social skills (Nikooyeh et al., 2017).

Emotional intelligence includes a ‘set of non-cognitive competencies’ that lead to successful coping in difficult situations (Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019). Emotional intelligence describes one’s ability or skill to understand oneself with regard to identifying, evaluating, and managing the emotions of oneself, others and various groups. Individuals with high emotional intelligence know themselves well and are also capable of understanding others’ emotions. These people are usually flexible and optimistic individuals (Serrat, 2017). A high level of EI predicts better psychological and physical health, leads to better and more intimate social relationships, and plays an important role in work outcomes (Kotsou et al., 2019).

Generally, social skills can be defined as the ability to successfully act in a social environment. People with poor social skills have problem interacting with others, which limits their opportunities for developing and maintaining satisfactory friendships with their peers (Lodder et al., 2016). Given that orphaned and abandoned adolescents are, in addition to experiencing growth crisis, faced with numerous problems and issues that have a negative impact on their mental health, improving their social skills can, by improving their coping skills and empowering them, play a moderating role in their mental well-being and reduce their tendency toward high-risk social behaviors (Embleton et al., 2017).

If emotional intelligence skills are found to be effective in improving the social skills of orphaned adolescents as a vulnerable social group, the results of this study can be recommended as an educational method for preventing high-risk behaviors among these adolescents. Therefore, the current study was designed and performed to determine whether or not teaching emotional intelligence skills can be effective in improving the social skills of orphaned and abandoned adolescents.

Method

Design and setting

This study was a quasi-experimental research with a control group and a pretest-posttest design for evaluating the effect of emotional intelligence interventions on the social skills of orphaned and abandoned adolescents.

The sample included orphaned and abandoned male adolescents in the age group of 12 to 18 who resided in an orphan care center in the city of Shiraz and were invited to participate in the study.

Sample size was estimated through a pilot study. In this regard, 20 individuals (10 per group) were selected as an experimental sample. Then, by setting μ1 = 140.8, μ2 = 153.2, S1 = 8.1, S2 = 10.14, power = 90%, and α = 0.05, a sample size of 22 was determined using the following formula.

n_{1} = n_{2} = \frac{{(Z_{1 - \frac{α}{2}} + Z_{1 - β})}^{2} σ^{2}}{{(μ_{2} - μ_{1})}^{2}}

Nonetheless, to increase the credibility of the study, the sample size was increased to 30 participants (15 per group).

Sampling method

Among the male adolescents residing in the care center, 52 met all the inclusion criteria, of which 30 male adolescents were selected through simple random sampling using a computer-generated table of random numbers.

The participants were assigned to the intervention and control groups by a statistics expert using a computer-generated table of random numbers. In this regard, 15 participants were assigned to each group (N: 15). Furthermore, this study was carried out without double-blinding.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

The participants were also evaluated in terms of the inclusion criteria, which were age of 12 to 18 years, residence in orphan care centers, and willingness to participate, as well as the exclusion criteria, which included any type of cognitive disorder or intellectual disability and having received any type of emotional intelligence-based intervention in the previous 6 months.

Ethical considerations

Before commencement, written informed consent forms were provided to the participants and their legal guardians to read and sign as the participants were not of legal age. After obtaining informed consent, a demographics questionnaire and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) were completed by the participants.

Study procedure

After obtaining a study permit and a letter of introduction, the researcher explained the research objectives to the welfare officials. Next, a sample was selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the MESSY scale. Then, the participants were assigned to the two groups of control and intervention. An introduction session was held for the participants in the intervention group. In this session, an expert therapist in the field of emotional intelligence explained the rules of the course after introducing himself. The importance of not revealing the information outside the training sessions was also explained in this session.

The training sessions, which focused on topics related to emotional intelligence, were held in person during the period of 4 weeks. Each session lasted 120 minutes, during which the contents were presented through workshop methods, games, and role playing. In the first session, the therapist asked the participants to introduce themselves. In this session, for the purposes of assessment, the therapist asked each participant to write down their own physical features on a piece of paper, and then asked the others to identify the person in question based on the described features. After that, in the second stage, a game was played relating psychosocial characteristics (general focus: practical self-awareness program). At the beginning of the second session, each participant was asked to fully introduce themselves in front of the group. In this session, a number of games were played with themes of respect for others’ rights, attention to the principle of cooperation, and helping others (general focus: empowerment skills). In the third session, the participants were asked to express their reactions in stressful social situations through role playing. This session was focused on the ability to say no and the skill of decisiveness and emotional control, which was taught through emotional intelligence games and tutorials (general focus: emotional control and expression skills). In session four, the participants were asked to critique themselves and the others in their group and describe each other’s obvious features. The participants were also asked to perform this practice on other people they were in contact with, such as their friends, caregivers, or teachers (general focus: skill of awareness about social-emotional awareness skills).

At the end of each session, prepared worksheets were provided to the participants. Furthermore, a few minutes at the end of each session were dedicated to expressing the emotions each participant had felt during that week, and the participants were asked to explain any experiences that had led to an emotional reaction. The assignments were reviewed at the beginning of the next session. The provided training course was designed based on some of the emotional intelligence skills introduced by Bradberry and Greaves (2006, 2009).

In order to ensure the participants’ understanding of the programs implemented before the start of the games, explanations were made. Also, at the end of each program, participants summarized the results and purpose of each game.

During the intervention period, control group only participated in programs provided by the institute, such as sports exercises, school-related training programs.

One month after the last training session, the intervention and control groups both completed the MESSY scale again.

Data collection tools

Two questionnaires were used for the purposes of data collection and analysis, including: a demographics questionnaire and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY).

Demographics questionnaire

This questionnaire included the variables of age, education, history of mental disorders, and duration of residence in the care center.

MESSY scale

This questionnaire was design in 1983 by Matson et al. for the evaluation of children and adolescents between the ages of 3 to 8. This scale consists of five subscales, including: appropriate social skills, antisocial behaviors, aggressiveness/impulsive behaviors, overconfidence, and peer relationships. Each item is rated by the participant based on a five-point Likert scale including the options: never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always (Matson et al., 1983). Moreover, the validity of this scale was evaluated by Matson again for other age groups (3–18 years), where the alpha coefficient equaled 0.84 for 2- to 5-year-old children, 0.93 for 6- to 9-year-old children, and 0.93 for 10- to 16-year-old adolescents. For each group, there was a correlation of 0.67 between this scale and the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (BASC) in the 10 to 18 year age group (Matson et al., 2010).

Data analysis method

After data collection, the information were entered into SPSS Statistics 22.0. The data were analyzed using statistical methods, descriptive statistics analysis of means and standard deviations, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (to assess the data normality assumption). Moreover, the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to assess the demographic variables, except for age. Also, a paired t-test was used with the assumption of data normality to compare the mean scores before and after intervention in both intervention and control groups. In addition, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationships between the quantitative variables, and a t-test was used for the nominal variables.

Results

A total of 30 individuals in the age group of 12 to 18 years participated in this study. The average age of participants was 13.73 ± 1.6 in the intervention group and 14.80 ± 1.8 in the control group. Data revealed that 17 participants were orphans and 13 were abandoned. Five individuals in the intervention group and three in the control group had a history of mental disorders, which according to the case files of the participants, included depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Tables 1 and 2 provide the demographic characteristics of the participants.

Table 1.

Qualitative demographic characteristics of the participants in the intervention and control groups (Kruskal-Wallis).

Group	Intervention		Control		t	p-Value
Frequency Variable	Number	%	Number	%	t	p-Value
Type of accommodation
Orphaned adolescents	9	60	8	53.33	0.136	.713
Abandoned adolescents	6	40	7	46.66	0.136	.713
Education
Middle school	11	73.3	9	60	0.136	.713
High school	4	26.66	6	40	0.136	.713
History of taking neuropsychiatric medications
Yes	5	33.3	3	20	0.682	.409
No	10	66.66	12	80

Table 2.

Quantitative characteristics of the participants in the intervention and control groups.

Group	Intervention		Control		t	p-Value
Statistic Variable	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	p-Value
Age	13.73	1.67	14.80	1.82	1.69	.595

To examine the normality of data, the one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was utilized. According to our study results, based on the independent samples t-test, there was no significant difference between the mean MESSY scores in the control and intervention groups before intervention (p = .840).

Results produced by the paired t-test showed a significant difference between the mean MESSY scores in the intervention group before and after intervention (p = .003). However, this difference was not significant in the control group (p = .241). Moreover, a comparison of the mean difference of scores in the intervention and control groups before and after intervention also showed a significant difference (p = .003) (Table 3).

Table 3.

Comparison of the mean difference of scores in the two groups before and after intervention.

MESSY scale scores	Before the intervention		After the intervention		t	p-Value
MESSY scale scores	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	p-Value
Intervention	157.26	33.27	167.53	33.03	5.76	.03*
Control	161.06	30.31	160.06	3182	1.22	.241
t	0.293		5.72
p-Value	.840		.003*

p < s.05.

According to our results, after the intervention, in the subscale of ‘appropriate social skills’, there was a significant difference in the intervention group before and after intervention (p = .000). Furthermore, in the subscales of ‘appropriate social skills’ (p = .000), ‘antisocial behaviors’ (p = .001), and ‘peer relationships’ (p = .000), there was a significant difference between the mean scores in the intervention group before and after intervention. However, in the subscales of ‘aggressiveness’ (p = .150) and ‘overconfidence’ (p = .499), no significant differences were observed in the mean differences before and after intervention in any of the two groups (Table 4).

Table 4.

Comparison of the mean difference of scores in the two groups before and after intervention.

Dimensions of MESSY scale	Time	Before intervention		After intervention		t	p-Value
Dimensions of MESSY scale	Group	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	p-Value
Social skills	Intervention	46.86	12.83	51.06	11.80	5.21	.000**
Social skills	Control	47.80	9.41	48.00	10.22	0.526	.606
Antisocial behaviors	Intervention	31.2	10.53	33.26	10.75	4.46	.001*
Antisocial behaviors	Control	31.73	10.87	31.93	10.72	0.899	.424
Aggressiveness/impulsive behaviors	Intervention	32.27	11.27	32.73	11.29	1.52	.150
Aggressiveness/impulsive behaviors	Control	34.33	10.16	33.93	10.87	1.19	.253
Overconfidence	Intervention	19.40	3.96	19.26	3.73	0.695	.499
Overconfidence	Control	20.06	2.73	19.93	2.81	0.807	.433
peer relationships	Intervention	27.93	6.01	31.20	6.34	5.19	.000*
	Control	27.13	5.47	26.26	5.31	1.37	.191

p < .05. p < .01**.

Generally, the overall MESSY scores, which were calculated by adding the scores of the subscales together, showed a significant difference between the mean scores in the intervention group before and after intervention (p = .001). In this regard, the mean MESSY score was increased from 157.26 before intervention to 167.53 after intervention (Table 3).

The results of the Pearson correlation test did not indicate any correlation between the MESSY score and the age of participants (R = −0.052; p = .758).

Moreover, results from the t-test showed no relationships between the participants’ MESSY scores and their residence status, which included ‘orphaned’ and ‘abandoned’ in this study (p = .396).

Discussion

In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of an emotional intelligence-based intervention in improving the level of social skills in orphaned and abandoned adolescents. The study results did not reveal any significant differences between the mean MESSY scores in the intervention and control groups before intervention, and the two groups were similar from this aspect. This proved the first assumption of the research, which was the similarity of the two groups in terms of research variables before intervention. After the intervention ended, a significant difference was observed in the MESSY scores of participants in the intervention group, which indicates the effectiveness of the intervention in improving the social skills of orphaned adolescents. This result is consistent with the study by Liu et al. (2020), which was conducted on 68 adolescents between the ages of 14 to 18 in China. According to the results of that study, training programs on emotional regulation can be effective in improving the social behaviors and emotional self-regulating skills of orphaned adolescents (Liu et al., 2020). Our results were also in line with the study by Mohammadzadeh et al. (2017), which investigated the effectiveness of a life skills-based intervention on the emotional health, self-esteem, and coping mechanisms of adolescents residing in a care center in Malaysia. In this regard, the researcher stated that their study findings can be a starting point for the continuous and regular education of life skills to Malaysian children and adolescents, and can be adopted by researchers and educational planners throughout the country (Mohammadzadeh et al., 2017).

According to the results of the current study, in the subscales of ‘appropriate social skills’, ‘antisocial behaviors’, and ‘peer relationships’, there was a significant difference between the mean scores in the intervention group before and after intervention. In this respect, it can be stated that emotional intelligence, by affecting the skill of effective communication, leads to the enhancement of social behaviors and to more appropriate relationships with peers. In an interventional study on 630 children and adolescents in three residential institutions, the results indicated that a combination of life skills and psychological training had been effective in reducing emotional and behavioral problems in orphaned children and adolescents (Sagone et al., 2020).

During adolescence, individuals enter the complex world of social relationships, which is common to this growth period. They are faced with numerous social issues such as suicide, population explosion, alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual abuse, smoking, crime, antisocial actions, and so forth, which will have an adverse effect on the psychosocial health of these individuals. Therefore, this new challenge requires prompt and fundamental responses. In the meantime, life skills training enhances the ability of individuals in meeting the needs and demands of the current society and helps them achieve a desirable behavior in the face of these issues. Inducing the adolescents to practice life skills will help them overcome such challenges in their life (Prajapati et al., 2017).

Assessments of the subscales of ‘overconfidence’ and ‘aggressiveness’ showed no significant differences in the intervention and control groups after intervention. In this regard, it can be stated that since overconfidence is a personality trait that, according to studies, is the strongest indicator of narcissism, an overconfident individual would define his or her self-importance as the main core of the structure. On the other hand, individuals with this trait are less flexible, and hence require continuous and fundamental interventions in order to change (Wetzel et al., 2019). As a result, due to the limited intervention, no change was observed in the self-confidence dimension.

Results from a cross-sectional study on the relationship between emotional intelligence and aggressive behavior showed a significant, negative relationship between emotional intelligence and physical aggression, while no relationship was observed with oral aggression. These results highlight the critical explanatory role of emotional abilities in physically aggressive behaviors, and their outcomes should be discussed (García-Sancho et al., 2017). Given that this study was conducted in the adult age group and our study focused on the adolescent age group, and since adolescents are under the influence of various stresses due to physical changes in puberty, some differences are observed in our study results. On the other hand, this was a cross-sectional study focusing on emotional traits, while our study evaluated emotional intelligence skills. Nonetheless, we recommend further research in this area with focus on impulsiveness in adolescents.

Other results from the current study showed no significant relationship between the social skills score and the residence status of adolescents in the orphaned and abandoned groups. Even though the parents are not deceased in the abandoned group, numerous cases of social problems, neglect, and abuse have been reported in this group. Our results also indicated no significant relationship between age and MESSY score, which may be due to the fact that the target group were all in the same age group (adolescent). Although descriptive interventions with large sample sizes are required to examine the relationships between variables, we recommend further descriptive cross-sectional studies be conducted with regard to the relationship between age and social skills.

In one cross-sectional study, the results showed a relationship between emotional intelligence and various levels of perceived happiness in adolescents. This study, which was carried out among 646 students in the first, second, third, and fourth years of elementary school, demonstrated that by an increase in the capacity of understanding and regulating emotional intelligence, feelings of happiness will also increase. Adolescence is seen as an ideal time in life to encourage the growth of emotional capacities that help people achieve greater happiness. Therefore, the present study emphasizes the necessity of implementing methods that will improve the emotional intelligence of adolescents, and consequently, increase their happiness and emotional well-being (Guerra-Bustamante et al., 2019).

It is expected that emotional intelligence, by reducing mood deterioration in undesirable situations, will reduce an individual’s vulnerability against emotional problems (Gómez-Baya & Mendoza, 2018). On the other hand, enhanced social skills can be considered a preventive factor with regard to the tendency of individuals toward alcohol abuse (Estevez et al., 2018).

In general, it can be said that emotional intelligence can also be effective in improving adaptive behaviors and resilience skills in adolescents. Emotional intelligence has been considered as one of the important components of psychological adaptation and coping in adolescents.

Based on the study results, which indicated the effectiveness of emotional intelligence skills training in improving the social skills of orphaned and abandoned adolescents, we suggest using this educational method in other social groups, such as adolescent victims of abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and behavioral disorders.

Limitations of the study

One of the limitations of the study was the sample size. Due to security and legal issues, access to the participant was difficult for long-term follow-up and evaluation. Also, we only had access to the male adolescent for the study. As a result, we recommend that researchers do more research on both sexes and compare them.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Vice-chancellor for Research Affairs of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for financially supporting the research and Shiraz Welfare Department for their cooperation.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ladan Zarshenas

Author biographies

Zakiye Ghelbash MSc, is an instructor in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Her recent research has focused on mental health of vulnerable groups in society.

Dr Ladan Zarshenas PhD is an Associate Professor and faculty member in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and dean of educational development office.

Dr Zobeydeh dehghan manshadi, PhD Psychology, researcher in Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research(ACECR), Fars Branch, Behavioral Sciences Group Trauma among children.

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