Emotional Intelligence Moderating the Relationship between Resilience and Internet Addiction among Tertiary Students in Ghana

• In Event: Digital technologies in education: student use, skill development and instructional contexts

Proposal

Abstract
This study investigates the moderating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between resilience and internet addiction among higher education students in Ghana using a cross-sectional design. A sample of 738 students aged between 20 and 30 years participated in the study, recruited via online platforms. The data collection involved three adapted scales: the resilience scale, the brief emotional intelligence scale, and the internet addiction test. Pearson correlation was used to assess the linear relationship among the variables, while Hayes Process Macro was employed for the moderation. There were correlations between emotional intelligence and resilience and between resilience and internet addiction but no significant relation was found between emotional intelligence and internet addiction. Also, the study revealed that emotional intelligence significantly moderates the relationship between resilience and internet addiction, accounting for 2.2% of the variance in internet addiction, suggesting that higher levels of emotional intelligence weaken the positive association between resilience and internet addiction. Therefore, educational institutions and policymakers incorporate emotional intelligence training programs into the curriculum to help mitigate internet addiction among students.

Introduction
In the field positive psychology, emotional intelligence is considered an important protective element in the midst of life adversities (Morales Rodríguez et al., 2020). To Molero et al. (2020), emotional intelligence (EI) helps students regarding their psychological well-being and at the same time, inures their skills in understanding the environment they find themselves. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an important acumen for students because it aids them to adapt to diverse situations they encounter and as well, helps them to achieve better learning outcomes (Arias-Chávez et al., 2020; Liebana-Presa et al., 2017; Kaypakli et al., 2020; Maul, 2012; Salovey et al., 2003).

Aside from using EI in managing their wellbeing and academic lives, it is also alleged that EI can help prevent problem behaviours among students (Alam et al., 2021). As stressful and demanding a university environment could be, students might engage in some reinforcing problem behaviours as a way in liberating themselves from these stressors and academic demands (Barbayannis et al., 2022; Yikealo et al., 2018). Topical among the reinforcing problem behaviours of university students is internet addiction (IA). For instance, Zenebe et al. (2021) in a study found that stress was among the factors that led university students to develop internet addictive behaviours. Similarly, Shek et al. (2023) study found that stress was a significant positive predictor of internet addiction among students. As evidently shown in the preceding empirical literature stress could to internet behaviours among students (Amoah et al., 2022; Fernández-Martínez et al., 2023; Vu et al., 2022), emotional intelligence (EI) appears to be one of the best ways in controlling IA among students.

Deducing from the forgoing, it is clear that EI has a direct relationship with IA. Even with this, extant literature has it that, EI is just one of the controlling factors in IA, but resilient abilities in students can equally thwart the emergence of IA among students. By implication, IA is a challenge and people stand the chance to ameliorate it when they possess resilience abilities.

Summarily from the reviewed literature, both EI and resilience have a direct relationship with IA. In some instances, EI and resilience connection with IA were negative while in other situations, their relationship with IA were positive. Aside from the direct relationships, it is possible that EI can provide a link between resilience and IA. In this process, the relationship between resilience and IA is indirect although literature on this path direction is inconclusive. Therefore, we hypothesised that an appropriate level of EI could influence the positive or negative relationship between resilience and IA.

Methodology
The study employed a cross-sectional design to survey higher education students in Ghana through online platforms. The total sample for the study was 738 students (aged between 20 and 30 years). Three scales were used: resilience scale (Wagnild & Young, 1993; α=.789), emotional intelligence scale (Davies et al., 2010; α=.918), and internet addiction scale (Samaha’s et al., 2018; α=.819). The Pearson correlation was performed to determine the strength and direction of the linear relationship between resilience and internet addiction among the students. In testing the moderating effect, Hayes Process Macro was used to examine whether emotional intelligence serve as a buffer or an antagonist to the relationship between resilience and internet addiction.

Results
The correlation between emotional intelligence and resilience was significant, weak, and positive, r (738) = .152, p = .001. This indicates that as emotional intelligence increases, resilience tends to increase as well. However, the relationship between emotional intelligence and internet addiction was not significant, r (738) = .028, p = .540. This suggests that there is no statistically significant linear relationship between emotional intelligence and internet addiction in this sample. Again, the correlation between resilience and internet addiction was significant, weak and negative, r (738) = -.096, p = .036. This indicates that the negative correlation suggests that as resilience increases, internet addiction tends to decrease. The moderation results indicate that the inclusion of emotional intelligence as a moderator account for 2.2% of the variance in internet addiction. This model is statistically significant, F (3, 736) = 3.58, p = .013. The moderation effect [(b=-0.073, SE = 0.032; t=-2.3154, p=.021; CI (-.135, -.011)] was negative but statistically significant, indicating that emotional intelligence significantly moderates the relationship between resilience and internet addiction.

Policy and Practice Implications
The findings of the study have important implications for educational institutions, mental health professionals, and policymakers. Educational institutions should consider integrating emotional intelligence training into their curricula to help students develop better emotional regulation and coping strategies. Mental health professionals should focus on strengthening both emotional intelligence and resilience in their interventions, providing a more comprehensive approach to preventing internet addiction. Policymakers should recognize the importance of emotional intelligence and resilience in educational settings and support programs aimed at developing these psychological traits.

Authors

• INUUSAH MAHAMA, University of Education, Winneba

• Delight Abla Klutsey, University of Education, Winneba