Are emotionally intelligent students more resilient to stress? The moderating effect of emotional attention, clarity and repair

The current study aims to examine the moderating effect of different dimensions of Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS) in the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction and mental health. We believe that the three TMMS dimensions (emotional attention, clarity and repair) will have different moderating effects. 835 university students from Spain, Portugal and Brazil participated in the investigation completing the short version of the trait metamood scale (TMMS24), Perceived Stress Scale, Satisfaction with life scale and General Health Questionnaire. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated different interactive effects of different TMMS-24 dimensions and stress in predicting life satisfaction and mental health. The only TMMS-24 dimension found to interact significantly with stress in predicting life satisfaction was emotional repair. When students perceive increased stress, the ones with lower emotional repair reported less satisfaction with life.