Mental Health problems among students: Effects of Mental Health Problems and mental health literacy on Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Wellbeing

Abstract

The objective of the current study was to explore how emotional intelligence contributes to psychological well-being among college students and the mediating role of mental health issues and mental health literacy. Young adults' mental health issues are becoming a global concern, specifically the mental well-being of students who are going through academic, social, and emotional difficulties. A cross-sectional research design with purposive sampling was used to complete the study. Participants were 378 students, who were surveyed about their emotional intelligence, mental health literacy, mental health issues (specifically anxiety, depression, and stress), and psychological well-being by means of an online survey in Google Forms. Data analysis was conducted by means of Hayes Process Macro for mediation analysis. The study results show that emotional intelligence positively affected psychological well-being and mental health literacy, while being negatively correlated with mental health issues. The findings indicated that mental health issues had a negative effect on psychological wellbeing whereas mental health literacy had a positive effect. In addition, mental health issues and mental health literacy partially mediated the relationship between psychological wellbeing and emotional intelligence. The study concludes that efforts related to increasing emotional intelligence and mental health literacy may be effective methods for improving students’ psychological wellbeing and reducing mental health problems.