EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATION IN ADOLESCENTS IN INSTITUTIONAL CARE AND SCHOOL SUPPORT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Adolescence, a vulnerable stage in human development, requires adequate adaptation processes to face changes. The research was carried out to compare emotional intelligence and behavioral adaptation between adolescents in institutional care and adolescents in the school support area of the Proyecto Salesiano Foundation Ecuador Granja Don Bosco, based on the positivist paradigm, under a non-experimental cross-sectional design, with a descriptive quantitative approach and a comparative methodology. Eighty-five adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age participated in the research. They were administered the Emotional Intelligence test Bar On Ice Na, the Bell's Adaptation Inventory (BAI), and a sociodemographic form. The results show that 50.9% of adolescents in institutional care have behavioral problems, and in the comparative analysis, no significant differences were found between the groups (p>0.5). In the correlation, the moderate statistical significance of mood with stress management (rs=,662**) was observed in the school reinforcement group. In contrast, in the institutional foster care group, there was a low negative correlation rs= -.347* of adaptability with social adaptation.