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.