Keiko Otake

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE JAPANESE VERSION OF THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SCALE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS AND PSYCHIATRIC OUTPATIENTS

We examined the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the Emotional Intelligence Scale in two samples of 267 college students and 398 psychiatric outpatients. Suitable validity and reliability of this scale were suggested by high correlations with scores on the NEO Personality Inventory, adequate internal consistency, and relatively high test-retest correlations. The Emotional Intelligence Scale seems suitable for both clinically distressed populations as well as comparative groups such as college students.

Association of Emotional Intelligence with Alexithymic Characteristics

We examined the association of emotional intelligence and alexithymic characteristics as the personality trait in cohorts of 267 college students and 398 psychiatric outpatients. Score on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale were significantly correlated with those on the Emotional Intelligence Scale, suggesting that alexithymic characteristics are related to lower emotional intelligence. In conclusion, these data suggest that emotional intelligence overlaps with alexithymia.

Adopting the Stage Model for Smoking Acquisition in Japanese Adolescents

The purpose of the present study was to apply the stages of change model to smoking acquisition in Japanese adolescents. The participants were 556 senior and 1002 junior high school students who responded anonymously to the questionnaire. The findings of this study confirm that the stage model is indeed applicable to smoking acquisition in Japanese adolescents. It was clearly seen that the process involves four stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action. Furthermore, the results showed that measures of self-efficacy decreased, while temptation increased from precontemplation to action stages. The pros of smoking behavior increased toward action stage, while the cons decreased.