Relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal behaviour among secondary school students in Kitutu Central Sub-County, Kisii County, Kenya

Abstract

Looking at the increasing trend of suicide in learners globally, the present study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and suicidal behaviour among secondary school students in Kitutu Central Sub-County of Kisii County in Kenya. The study employed a concurrent triangulation research methodology where both descriptive cross sectional survey and naturalistic phenomenology designs were used. Probability and non-probability sampling methods were used to sample 120 students from 28 secondary schools within Kitutu Central Sub-County. Data was collected using questionnaires to gather information from the students. The data collected was analyzed using regression analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. The findings were presented using frequencies, tabled standard deviations, mean differences and percentages. The results indicate that perceived teacher rejecting behavior during the teaching process contributes significantly to the development of suicidal behavior in most adolescents especially when teachers reject them and refer them names. Assumptions by parents and teachers in having close contacts with the learners sometimes contributes to suicidal thoughts especially when the students are pressed up with stressful issues and nobody bothers to listen to them. One of the implications of these findings is that the ministry of education might need to redesign the teaching curriculum to include emotional intelligence training for secondary school students. Future research should also aim at improving emotional intelligence in students which could help learners with stress coping skills and management.