Papers by Natalio Extremera
Psychological Reports, Jan 1, 2004
Williams, F., Fernández-Berrocal, P., Extremera, N., Ramos-Díaz, N. & Joiner, T. E. (2004). Mood regulation skill and the symptoms of endogenous and hopelessness depression in Spanish High School Students. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 233-240. To assess the construct validity of the endogenous subtype of depression, 2 studies examined the ... more To assess the construct validity of the endogenous subtype of depression, 2 studies examined the relation of mood regulation skill to the symptoms of endogenous depression versus hopelessness depression in adolescent samples. It was hypothesized that the relationship between mood regulation skill and endogenous depression would be weaker than the relationship between mood regulation skill and hopelessness depression, because endogenous depression may be less influenced by personality variables, such as mood regulation skill. In spite of the high degree of correlation between the symptoms of hopelessness depression and endogenous depression, the relationship between mood regulation skill and hopelessness depression was stronger than the relationship between mood regulation skill and endogenous depression, as predicted. This is consistent with proposed definition of endogenous depression.
This study investigated the association between Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI), measured ... more This study investigated the association between Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI), measured by the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), and life satisfaction in Spanish undergraduate university students. Specially, the predictive and incremental validity of this self-report measure of emotional intelligence was examined. The authors investigated whether PEI would account for variance in satisfaction with life beyond the level attributable to mood states and personality traits. Correlation analysis showed significant associations between Clarity and Repair and higher life satisfaction. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis confirmed these findings and indicated that Clarity accounted further variance in life satisfaction not accounted for by mood states and personality traits. These findings extend previous studies and provide additional support for the incremental validity of the TMMS suggesting that Clarity contribute to life satisfaction independently from well-known mood states constructs and personality traits.
This Study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence, anxiety and depression among... more This Study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence, anxiety and depression among adolescents. Two hundred and fifty high-school students were administered the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), a self-report measure of emotional intelligence, along with measures of thought suppression, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. It was hypothesized that emotional abilities would predict psychological adjustment above and beyond factors that have been previously associated with poor adjustment (i.e., selfesteem and thought suppression). The study revealed two main findings. First, self-reported ability to regulate mood (Emotional Repair) was positively related to self-esteem. Second, self-reported emotional intelligence was negatively related to levels of depression and anxiety. Specifically, the ability to discriminate clearly among feelings (Emotional Clarity) and the ability to selfregulate emotional states were associated with better psychological adjustment, independent of the effects of self-esteem and thought suppression. The results provide support for the hypothesis that emotional abilities are an important and unique contributor to psychological adjustment.
This study examined the reliability of the Spanish version of the MSCEIT, with a sample of 946 co... more This study examined the reliability of the Spanish version of the MSCEIT, with a sample of 946 college and high school students (426 males, 520 females) ranging from 16 to 58 years old. After the translation and back-translation process, the objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the reliability of the Spanish version of the MSCEIT v.2.0 at the total scale, area, branch and subscale levels; 2) to analyze the correlations between the methods of scoring in the Spanish version of the MSCEIT v.2.0 at the total scale, area, branch and subscale levels; 3) to examine possible gender differences on MSCEIT scores; and 4) to examine the relationship between age and MSCEIT scores. These analyses revealed good reliability and internal consistency for the Spanish version of the MSCEIT; a high level of convergence between scoring methods; and higher scores obtained by women on overall scale and branches scores than scores obtained by men. A positive correlation between the scores on MSCEIT and age was found. Finally, these results are discussed in light of the limitations of the present study, the implications of the use of this new instrument, and the need for future research on emotional intelligence.
The current study examined the relationships between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) (meas... more The current study examined the relationships between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) (measured by Trait-Meta Mood Scale, TMMS), dispositional optimism/pessimism and psychological adjustment (perceived stress and life satisfaction) in a sample of 498 adolescents (202 males and 296 females). In addition, the present research investigated the extent to which dimensions of PEI predicted variance in life satisfac-* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 952 137063; fax: +34 952 131100.
This study examined the influence of perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and intrusive thought... more This study examined the influence of perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and intrusive thoughts on emotional responses following a stressful event. PEI was assessed on 144 participants using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS). The TMMS assesses perceived ability to: (1) attend to moods (Attention); (2) discriminate clearly among moods (Clarity); and (3) regulate moods (Repair). The main purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between PEI, intrusive thoughts, and adjustment to an acute stressor induced experimentally in the laboratory, on two separate days. Finally, we examined the relationship between PEI, Inhibition, and Empathy. Results indicated that Clarity influences emotional responses on Day 1, and Repair affects emotional responses on Day 2 indirectly via intrusive thoughts, which act as a mediator. Significant associations were obtained between the three factors of the TMMS with Empathy and Inhibition. These findings suggest that individuals with higher emotional Clarity and Repair will experience less negative emotional responses and intrusive thoughts after an acute stressor, which enables them to adapt more readily to the experience.
The current study examined the moderating effect of meta-mood skills, and perceived stress on lif... more The current study examined the moderating effect of meta-mood skills, and perceived stress on life satisfaction after controlling for dispositional optimism. Three-hundred and nine undergraduate students were asked to complete the trait meta-mood scale (TMMS), the perceived stress scale (PSS), the revised life orientation test (LOT-R), and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). Results revealed a positive correlation between dispositional optimism and life satisfaction. Also scores on the meta-mood skills were significantly related in the expected direction to scores on perceived stress and life satisfaction and showed additive value in predicting these constructs even after controlling for optimism and stress. Moreover, findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicated an interactive effect of mood clarity and stress in predicting life satisfaction after controlling for confounding effects. When students reported a high level of perceived stress, those with high mood clarity reported higher scores in life satisfaction than those with low mood clarity. However, there were no differences in life satisfaction between high and low clarity groups when perceived stress was low. Implications of these findings for future research on perceived emotional intelligence construct and for working with distressed people are discussed.
The primary aim of the current study was to replicate and extend previous findings by examining t... more The primary aim of the current study was to replicate and extend previous findings by examining the relationship between trait meta-mood and levels of subjective happiness in a 7-week follow-up study. Participants were 192 undergraduate students (155 females) who completed self-report measures of trait meta-mood and subjective happiness. After 7 weeks, 155 students completed the subjective happiness scale again. Focusing first on cross-sectional analysis, meta-mood dimensions were found to be moderately related to levels of subjective happiness. Next, along with initial levels of subjective happiness, we found that meta-mood dimensions independently predicted prospective levels of subjective happiness over a 7-week follow-up. These findings provide some preliminary evidence on the prospective value of meta-mood dimensions as relevant individual differences involved in the maintenance of emotional well-being indicators.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the anxiety disorder with the highest prevalence rate in me... more Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the anxiety disorder with the highest prevalence rate in mental health centers. Empirical researches concerning its diagnosis and treatment have not yet explored the potential implications of deficits in emotional intelligence (EI) as a vulnerability factor in its development. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between EI and clinical symptoms in a group of psychiatric patients with GAD compared to the control group. Seventy outpatients (82.9% female) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of GAD and 70 control individuals (72.9% female) completed self-report instruments assessing EI and clinical symptoms in a cross-sectional study. Significant correlations were observed between EI dimensions such as clarity (r = .327) and repair (r = .405) and symptoms of anxiety. Also, the dimensions of attention and repair allowed a clear discrimination between clinical patients and control group. The results of the present study showed that deficits in EI abilities were a vulnerability factor in the development of GAD.
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Papers by Natalio Extremera