Through a study conducted on adolescents and young people from a school in Lérida, the influence that Emotional Intelligence and a Person’s Impulsivity can have on the likelihood of consuming marijuana has been assessed.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence is the set of skills responsible for:
- Perceiving, evaluating, and expressing emotions.
- Facilitating and assimilating emotions.
- Understanding, analyzing, and utilizing knowledge regarding emotions.
- Regulating emotions to promote personal growth.
These emotional skills take on special relevance in cannabis use, with poor emotional regulation being an important predictor of it.
What is Impulsivity?
Impulsivity is a predisposition to react abruptly or unplanned to situations or events concerning oneself or one’s environment, without thinking too much about the possible consequences. This aspect has been considered highly involved in the likelihood of trying a drug, with good self-control being a protective factor against cannabis use.
Cannabis use is currently seen as a problem by a multitude of countries. Studies have shown the impact of this substance at a neurological level, highlighting its impact on attention and memory, and the proven effect it has on friendships, social life, mental health, schooling, and work.
Case Study
The 111 students in 4th year of ESO and Vocational Training Cycles responded to a set of widely validated scales (TMMS-24 for perceived Emotional Intelligence and BIS-II for Impulsivity) as well as a record of cannabis/hashish consumption.
Consumers obtained significantly lower scores in emotional clarity, reflecting greater difficulties in identifying, defining, and expressing their emotions.
“Cannabis users are less clear about the feelings and emotions they experience compared to people who have never consumed it.”
The scores obtained by consumers regarding so-called emotional repair were significantly lower compared to those who had never consumed marijuana. Therefore, they perceived it as more difficult to understand and manage their emotions, making it harder to moderate negative emotions and enhance positive ones.
“Those who have consumed cannabis at some point have more difficulty managing negative moods, as well as enhancing positive ones.”
From this study, it is concluded that having good skills to identify one’s own feelings and those of others, as well as a good ability to manage them, are protective factors against the initiation of cannabis use.
Intervention in this critical developmental process, adolescence, will be of great importance for the acquisition of beneficial tools for satisfactory emotional management and, therefore, to achieve well-being and prevent drug use.[vc_cta h2=”Robert Cotonat Gracia” h4=”Author” style=”3d”]
Student of the Master’s in Third Generation Therapies and Application of New Technologies. Psychologist in clinical, educational, and social fields.
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