Emotional Intelligence and Suicidal Ideation in Indonesian Adolescents: Dynamics, Contributing Factors, and Pathways to Resilience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47679/jopp.7312102025Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Suicide Ideation, Adolescence, Qualitative Research, Coping StrategiesAbstract
Suicide ideation among adolescents has emerged as a pressing global health crisis, with recent national surveys in Indonesia reporting that over 1% of youth experience such thoughts and many face related mental health challenges. This study explores the dynamics and influencing factors of emotional intelligence (EI) in adolescents who experience suicide ideation. Employing a qualitative case study design, five participants aged 15–22 years with a history of suicide ideation were purposively selected. Data were gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews guided by Goleman’s EI framework and analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s interactive model. Results reveal that all participants exhibited underdeveloped EI, characterized by difficulties in recognizing and regulating emotions, limited self-control during emotional crises, and impaired relationship skills. Key factors shaping these EI patterns included negative parenting, traumatic experiences, and insufficient social support. Despite these challenges, some adolescents demonstrated adaptive coping through creative expression and supportive relationships. The findings highlight the importance of family and community support as protective factors and underscore the need for targeted interventions to enhance EI and resilience in vulnerable youth. This study contributes critical insights for mental health practitioners and educators aiming to prevent adolescent suicide.
References
Adinda, S. T., & Prastuti, E. (2021). Regulasi emosi dan dukungan sosial: Sebagai prediktor ide bunuh diri mahasiswa. Journal An-Nafs: Kajian Penelitian Psikologi, 6(1), 135–151. https://doi.org/10.33367/psi.v6i1.1520
Aiken, C. S., Wagner, B. M., & Benjamin Hinnant, J. (2019). Observed interactions in families of adolescent suicide attempters. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 49(1), 104–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12423
Center for Reproductive Health, University of Queensland, & Johns Bloomberg Hopkins School of Public Health. (2023). Indonesia – National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS): Laporan Penelitian. Pusat Kesehatan Reproduksi.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
de Almeida, B. M. T. (2023). Emotional intelligence in socio-emotional skills. Journal of Psychological Science and Research, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.53902/JPSSR.2023.03.000552
Extremera, N., Quintana-Orts, C., Mérida-López, S., & Rey, L. (2018). Cyberbullying victimization, self-esteem and suicidal ideation in adolescence: Does emotional intelligence play a buffering role? Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 367. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00367
Galindo-Domínguez, H., & Losada Iglesias, D. (2023). Emotional intelligence and suicidal ideation in adolescents: The mediating and moderating role of social support. Revista de Psicodidáctica (English Ed.), 28(2), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psicoe.2023.02.001
Goleman, D. (2018). Kecerdasan emosional: Mengapa EI lebih penting daripada IQ (cetakan ke-25). PT Gramedia.
González Moreno, A., & Molero Jurado, M. del M. (2024). Prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence as factors associated with healthy lifestyles and violence in adolescents. BMC Psychology, 12(1), Article 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01559-2
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Guo, Z., Yang, T., He, Y., Tian, W., Wang, C., Zhang, Y., Liu, J., Liu, X., Zhu, X., & Wu, S. (2024). The relationships between suicidal ideation, meaning in life, and affect: A network analysis. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 22(5), 2805–2824. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01019-9
Kulkarni, P. Y., & Velhal, G. (2023). Low emotional intelligence: A precursor of mental health derangements among adolescents. Cureus, 15(10), e46321. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.46321
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., Caruso, D. R., & Sitarenios, G. (2001). Emotional intelligence as a standard intelligence. Emotion, 1(3), 232–242. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.1.3.232
Moreno, A. G., & Jurado, M. M. (2024). Prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence as factors associated with healthy lifestyles and violence in adolescents. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01559-2
Paskah, Y. G., & Huwae, A. (2024). Hidup dalam kurungan trauma: Studi tingkat depresi dan ide bunuh diri pada remaja yang mengalami kekerasan dalam rumah tangga. Jurnal Ilmiah Bimbingan Konseling Undiksha, 15(3), 388–396. https://doi.org/10.23887/jibk.v15i3.87322
Peláez-Fernández, M. A., Mérida-López, S., Yudes, C., & Extremera, N. (2024). How can the Social Family Climate Contribute to Emotional Intelligence in Preventing Suicidal Ideation and Promoting Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents? Applied Research in Quality of Life, 19(5), 2915–2932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-024-10354-5
Quintana-Orts, C., Mérida-López, S., Rey, L., Neto, F., & Extremera, N. (2020). Untangling the Emotional Intelligence-Suicidal Ideation Connection: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Adolescents. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(10), 3116. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9103116
Rodhiyah, I., & Djuwita, R. (2023). Difficulty Emotion Regulation as a Predictor of Adolescent Depressive Symptoms. Psikostudia Jurnal Psikologi, 12(2), 218–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.30872/psikostudia.v12i2
Rosa, G. S. da, Andrades, G. S., Caye, A., Hidalgo, M. P., Oliveira, M. A. B. de, & Pilz, L. K. (2019). Thirteen Reasons Why: The impact of suicide portrayal on adolescents’ mental health. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 108, 2–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.10.018
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG
Santrock, J. W. (2020). Essentials of life-span development (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Saputra, D., Putri, S. T., Widiastuti, R., & Hidayah, N. N. (2025). Keterkaitan antara strategi maladaptif regulasi emosi kognitif dengan ide bunuh diri pada mahasiswa jurusan psikologi. G-COUNS: Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling, 9(3), 2580–6467. https://doi.org/10.31316/g-couns.v9i3.7571
Siswanto, K. A. P., Mukhtar, D., & Dewi, I. S. (2024). Transforming independent learning among students: Perspectives on emotional intelligence and parental support. Psikostudia: Jurnal Psikologi, 13(3), 371–379. http://dx.doi.org/10.30872/psikostudia.v13i3
Sójta, K., Juraś-Darowny, M., Margulska, A., Jóźwiak-Majchrzak, W., Grażka, A., & Strzelecki, D. (2023). Resilience and strategic emotional intelligence as mediators between the disconnection and rejection domain and negative parenting among female intimate partner violence victims. Brain Sciences, 13(9), Article 1291. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13091290
Sugiyono. (2019). Metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif & RND. Alfabeta.
Sutarya, K., Riza, W. L., & Aisha, D. (2024). Sebuah Pemikiran Bunuh Diri pada Mahasiswa: Dapatkah Harga Diri dan Dukungan Sosial Memprediksi? Jurnal Psikologi Dan Konseling West Science, 2(04), 233–244. https://doi.org/10.58812/jpkws.v2i04.1553
Utomo, A. A., & Rahmasari, D. (2024). Gambaran Hopelessness pada Mahasiswa yang Memiliki Ide Bunuh Diri. Character: Jurnal Penelitian Psikologi, 11(02), 865–879. https://doi.org/10.26740/cjpp.v11n2.p865-879
Vargas-Medrano, J., Diaz-Pacheco, V., Castaneda, C., Miranda-Arango, M., Longhurst, M. O., Martin, S. L., Ghumman, U., Mangadu, T., Chheda, S., Thompson, P. M., & Gadad, B. S. (2020). Psychological and neurobiological aspects of suicide in adolescents: Current outlooks. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, 7, 100124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2020.100124
World Health Organization. (2021). Mental health of adolescents. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Zhao, J., & Wang, Y. (2023). Harsh parenting and suicide ideation among Chinese adolescents: The roles of self-esteem and school social support. BMC Psychiatry, 23(1), Article 87. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05108-w
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright Policy
Journal of Psychological Perspective (JOPP) is committed to promoting academic freedom and open access. To that end, we apply a copyright policy that empowers authors while ensuring the broad dissemination and responsible reuse of published work.
- Authors retain the full copyright of their published manuscripts.
- By publishing in JOPP, authors grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- This license permits others to:
- Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format),
- Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially),
- As long as appropriate credit is given, a link to the license is provided, and derivative works are distributed under the same license.
- Authors may:
- Deposit and share the published version of their work in institutional repositories or personal websites.
- Enter into separate, non-exclusive distribution agreements, provided that original publication in JOPP is properly cited.
Licensing and Copyright for Data Publication
To promote transparency, reproducibility, and ethical integrity in research, Journal of Psychological Perspective adopts the following policies regarding the publication of research data:
- Copyright Ownership: Authors retain copyright over the datasets they submit or make available in connection with their articles.
- Default License: All data associated with a published manuscript must be shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), unless otherwise agreed upon with the editor.
- Permitted Use: This license allows others to use, modify, and distribute the dataset (including for commercial purposes), provided that attribution is given to the original authors and that derivative works are shared under the same terms.
- Repository: Authors are strongly encouraged to deposit copies of their accepted manuscripts in institutional repositories or subject-specific archives. (e.g., OSF, Zenodo, Figshare) and include citations and links to the datasets in the article.
- Ethical and Legal Responsibility: Authors must ensure:
- The data shared do not breach confidentiality, privacy, or legal agreements.
- Informed consent has been obtained where necessary.
- Data have been properly anonymized where applicable.
- Alternate Licenses: In exceptional cases, alternative data licenses (e.g., CC0, Open Data Commons) may be considered upon editorial approval. A written justification must be submitted and published alongside the article.
- Corrections or Retractions: If issues related to published data arise (e.g., ethical breaches, significant errors), JOPP reserves the right to take corrective action in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines. Please read our policy about retraction of articles
Submit Online
