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Relationships between Family Functioning, Alexithymia and Emotional Intelligence among Early Adolescents in Tehran-Iran
Fataneh Naghavi1, Marof Redzuan2
1School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2Department of Social and Development Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra, Malaysia.
1E-mail: [email protected], 2E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: With respect to the relationship between family functioning, alexithymia, and the early adolescent’s emotional intelligence construct is still being developed with empirical support. Hence, this research follows a specific objective for determination of the relationship between family functioning, alexithymia, and early adolescent’s emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is a set of abilities such as conception, emotion appraisal and expression, emotion management and regulation, and emotion utilization of emotion. The present study was carried out among 234 Iranian students in the second and grades of guidance schools (age 12-15) in Tehran, Iran. The students (girls and boys) were clustered through random and multistage sampling. Data were collected using the Schutte’s (1998) Emotional Intelligence Scale and Rieffe’s Children’s Alexithymia Scale (2006), which are consistent with the original adult questionnaire for alexithymia (TAS-20) in the first stage and Family Assessment Device (FAD), based on McMaster’s model in the second stage. Pearson correlation between subscales of total family functioning and alexithymia and emotional intelligence was statistically significant. Results of the multiple regression analysis, together with independent variables entered, simultaneously indicate that as a group, the independent variables significantly contributed to the prediction of emotional intelligence.
[Fataneh Naghavi, Ma’rof Redzuan. Relationships between Family Functioning, Alexithymia and Emotional Intelligence among Early Adolescents in Tehran-Iran. Life Sci J 2012;9(1):396-401].(ISSN:1097-8135).http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 58
Keywords: Family Functioning, Early Adolescent’s Emotional Intelligence, Family Assessment Device, Alexithymia, Children’s Alexithymia, Emotional Quotient. Full