Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent (TEIQUE-AF)

1. Abstract

The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent (TEIQUE-AF) is a specialized, 30-item self-report psychometric instrument designed to measure global trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) or trait emotional self-efficacy among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. Developed by Konstantinos V. Petrides and colleagues within the London Psychometric Laboratory, the instrument adapts the comprehensive adult sampling domain of trait EI to the linguistic, developmental, and social realities of adolescence. Trait EI conceptualizes emotional functioning not as a cognitive ability analogous to standard intelligence quotients, but as a constellation of emotional self-perceptions, dispositions, and affective self-beliefs located at the lower levels of established personality hierarchies. The TEIQUE-AF operationalizes this broad construct through 30 items selected directly from the full adolescent form (TEIQUE-AYF), sampling across 15 distinct facets: adaptability, assertiveness, emotion perception (self and others), emotion expression, emotion management (others), emotion regulation, low impulsivity, relationships, self-esteem, self-motivation, social awareness, stress management, trait empathy, trait happiness, and trait optimism. Respondents rate items on an authentic 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“Completely Disagree”) to 7 (“Completely Agree”). Psychometric evaluations across diverse cross-cultural, clinical, and school-based cohorts consistently document robust internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha typically ranging between .82 and .89; McDonald’s omega > .84), high test-retest temporal stability, and a dominant general factor supporting unidimensional scoring for global trait EI. The instrument exhibits documented incremental validity over traditional broad personality dimensions (such as the Five-Factor Model) and general cognitive ability in predicting vital adolescent outcomes, including psychological resilience, reduced somatic complaints, lower incidence of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, peer acceptance, and adaptive coping mechanisms.

2. Keywords

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent, TEIQUE-AF, trait emotional intelligence, emotional self-efficacy, adolescent psychometrics, personality assessment, London Psychometric Laboratory, emotional regulation, adolescent mental health, affective dispositions, socio-emotional competence, internal consistency.

3. Authors

The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire family was conceptualized and developed by Konstantinos V. Petrides, Professor of Psychology and Psychometrics at University College London (UCL) and Director of the London Psychometric Laboratory, in collaboration with academic colleagues including Adrian Furnham (University College London / Norwegian Business School BI) and Stella Mavroveli (Imperial College London). Extensive psychometric validation for adolescent adaptations was coordinated through the London Psychometric Laboratory, situated at the Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.

4. Purpose

Adolescence represents a critical, turbulent developmental period characterized by rapid neurobiological remodeling, identity consolidation, heightened emotional reactivity, and expanding interpersonal complexity. During this transition, youths face substantial academic, social, and physiological demands that require effective affective evaluation and regulation. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent (TEIQUE-AF) was specifically created to provide a theoretically grounded, psychometrically sound, and developmentally accessible instrument capable of measuring an adolescent’s subjective emotional self-perceptions and affective self-efficacy without requiring excessive assessment time.

The theoretical rationale underlying the TEIQUE-AF rests on the recognition that traditional cognitive-ability models of emotional intelligence fail to capture subjective emotional dispositions and coping tendencies in ecological settings. By operationalizing emotional functioning as personality traits rather than maximal cognitive performance, the TEIQUE-AF captures how adolescents actually behave and feel in everyday affective scenarios. The primary purposes of the instrument encompass:

• Educational and Developmental Screening: Identifying secondary school pupils who exhibit diminished emotional self-efficacy, low resilience, poor emotional regulation, or pervasive pessimism, thereby allowing school psychologists and educators to introduce early socio-emotional learning (SEL) interventions.
• Clinical and Mental Health Assessment: Serving as an assessment of vulnerability or resilience against psychiatric morbidity. Lower global trait EI scores on the TEIQUE-AF have consistently demonstrated strong associations with internalizing symptomatology (e.g., depressive disorders, generalized anxiety, somatization) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., peer aggression, oppositional behavior, substance experimentation).
• Pediatric and Health Psychology Applications: Evaluating the psychological resources of adolescents coping with chronic somatic conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, or chronic pain, where affective self-regulation directly modulates physiological management and treatment adherence.
• Academic and Applied Research: Providing researchers with a reliable, unidimensional index of global trait EI that minimizes participant fatigue and cognitive burden while maintaining high construct validity in large-scale longitudinal and epidemiological studies.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct evaluated by the TEIQUE-AF is trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), defined formally by Petrides and Furnham as a constellation of emotional self-perceptions and behavioral dispositions located at the lower echelons of personality hierarchies. Rather than tapping knowledge about emotional vocabulary or testing performance on artificial emotion puzzles, trait EI evaluates an adolescent’s self-assessed emotional competencies across intra- and interpersonal domains.

Although the 30-item adolescent short form is calibrated psychometrically to yield a single, unified Global Trait Emotional Intelligence score, its item pool systematically samples from the 15 primary facets that define the broader adult and adolescent trait EI conceptual framework. These facets are clustered conceptually under four overarching factors, along with two independent auxiliary facets:

1. Well-Being

The Well-Being factor encompasses emotional dispositions tied directly to positive affect, life contentment, and personal security. In the TEIQUE-AF, this is manifested across three specific facets:

• Trait Happiness: Experiencing frequent positive affect and general life contentment (e.g., “Overall, I feel pleased with my life”).
• Trait Optimism: Maintaining positive future expectancies and an enduring belief that events will resolve successfully (e.g., “I believe that things usually turn out well in my life”).
• Self-Esteem: A fundamentally positive subjective appraisal of one’s personal worth and capability (e.g., “I feel that I have a number of good qualities”).

2. Self-Control

The Self-Control factor assesses an adolescent’s ability to manage subjective internal urges, control negative emotional impulses, and remain stable under adverse conditions. Its core facets include:

• Emotion Regulation: The capacity to influence, manage, and modulate one’s own emotional states over time (e.g., reverse-keyed: “When I get upset, I don’t know what to do to calm down”).
• Stress Management: The dispositional capacity to withstand severe pressure without cognitive or emotional collapse (e.g., reverse-keyed: “I find it hard to keep going when things get tough”).
• Low Impulsivity: Deliberate cognitive restraint versus erratic behavioral reactivity (e.g., reverse-keyed: “I often make decisions that I regret”).

3. Emotionality

The Emotionality factor measures skills and beliefs concerning the recognition, communication, and utilization of emotions to cultivate deep interpersonal connections. Key facets include:

• Emotion Expression: The perceived ease of externalizing one’s emotional reality (e.g., “I can easily express how I feel”).
• Trait Empathy: The subjective tendency to understand and resonate with another person’s emotional state (e.g., reverse-keyed: “I often find it hard to see other people’s point of view”).
• Relationships: The capacity to maintain fulfilling interpersonal relationships (e.g., reverse-keyed: “I find it difficult to show others that I care about them”).
• Emotion Perception (Self and Others): Clear recognition of one’s own internal feelings and accurate decoding of emotional cues in peers.

4. Sociability

The Sociability factor concentrates on interpersonal agency, social presence, and assertiveness in group contexts. Facets represented include:

• Social Awareness: Feeling confident and skilled in complex social settings.
• Emotion Management (Others): The ability to calm, uplift, or influence the affective states of peers (e.g., “I am usually able to calm down other people when they are upset”).
• Assertiveness: Standing up for one’s rights and asserting personal boundaries (e.g., reverse-keyed: “I often find it hard to stand up for my rights”).

Auxiliary Facets: Adaptability and Self-Motivation

The adolescent sampling domain also includes two auxiliary facets that feed directly into global trait EI: Adaptability (flexibility and comfort when adjusting to unfamiliar or changing environments; e.g., “I’m able to adapt to new environments without difficulty”) and Self-Motivation (internal drive to persist and achieve goals despite frustration; e.g., “I believe I have the ability to make good things happen”).

6. Theoretical Framework

The conceptual framework underpinning the TEIQUE-AF is rooted in Trait Emotional Intelligence Theory (Petrides & Furnham, 2000, 2001, 2003; Petrides, 2011). This framework introduced a critical epistemological distinction within the psychological study of emotion: the operational demarcation between trait EI (or emotional self-efficacy) and ability EI (or cognitive-emotional ability).

Ability EI models (most prominently advanced by Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso) view emotional intelligence as a distinct form of mental ability consisting of objective cognitive processing of emotional stimuli. However, Trait EI Theory points out a fundamental psychometric challenge in measuring affective processes using objective, standard-performance scoring keys: unlike logical, spatial, or mathematical problems, emotional reactions have no universally objective “correct” answers that apply equally across distinct personalities, cultural contexts, and situational demands. Emotional experiences are inherently subjective.

Consequently, Petrides and colleagues relocated emotional intelligence directly into the domain of personality psychology. Trait EI is conceptualized as a constellation of emotion-related self-perceptions, behavioral tendencies, and subjective attitudes located at the lower levels of established personality taxonomies, specifically complementing the Five-Factor Model (comprising Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) and Eysenck’s Giant Three. In this framework, assessing emotional intelligence relies appropriately on self-report questionnaires, measuring emotional functioning within the same conceptual space as trait anxiety, optimism, and locus of control.

When applied to developmental psychology, Trait EI Theory posits that during adolescence, emotional self-efficacy serves as a primary cognitive-affective filter. This filter shapes how youths interpret academic stressors, negotiate peer relationships, manage hormonal shifts, and process social evaluations. Adolescents who possess high trait EI interpret stressors as manageable challenges rather than catastrophic threats, select proactive coping strategies, regulate negative emotions efficiently, and build resilient peer support systems.

7. Validity

The construct, criterion, convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the TEIQUE-AF has been rigorously substantiated through extensive international psychometric research involving adolescent samples in clinical, school, and community environments.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Studies examining construct validity have documented strong, theoretically predictable associations between the TEIQUE-AF and established affective measures. TEIQUE-AF global scores correlate positively and robustly with measures of psychological well-being, self-esteem (e.g., Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, with correlations typically between r = .55 and .68), life satisfaction, adaptive problem-focused coping, and dispositional optimism. Conversely, global scores exhibit substantial negative correlations with measures of depression (correlations ranging between r = -.50 and -.65), trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, r = -.55 to -.62), somatic complaints, and emotional exhaustion.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity has been demonstrated by showing that the TEIQUE-AF does not capture general cognitive ability (IQ). Multiple studies investigating fluid intelligence (via Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices) and standardized academic performance benchmarks have confirmed that trait EI correlations with general cognitive ability are near zero (r values typically between -.05 and .12). This verifies that the TEIQUE-AF measures personality-based emotional self-efficacy rather than cognitive capability.

Incremental Validity

A crucial psychometric benchmark for any trait EI instrument is establishing incremental validity beyond the Big Five personality traits. In multiple hierarchical regression analyses conducted with adolescent cohorts (e.g., Mavroveli et al., 2007; Petrides et al., 2006; Mikolajczak et al., 2007), global TEIQUE-AF scores systematically accounted for significant unique variance (often 5% to 15% of incremental variance) in adolescent maladjustment, peer relations, conduct issues, and depressive affect, even after statistically controlling for broad personality dimensions (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and general intelligence.

Predictive and Criterion Validity in School Contexts

TEIQUE-AF scores reliably predict real-world adolescent outcomes. Higher scores predict lower rates of school truancy, fewer disciplinary exclusions, reduced peer victimization/bullying, and higher teacher-rated socio-emotional adjustment. Furthermore, research demonstrates that trait EI moderates the relationship between intellectual ability and academic performance: for adolescents with lower cognitive ability, high trait EI acts as a buffer, compensating for academic vulnerability through sustained motivation, stress management, and emotional persistence.

8. Reliability

The psychometric evaluation of the TEIQUE-AF has demonstrated strong reliability coefficients across diverse linguistic adaptations, age brackets, and cultural contexts.

Internal Consistency

Given that the TEIQUE-AF is designed to provide a unified index of global trait EI from 30 items selected across 15 distinct facets, its internal consistency is notable:

• In the normative British validation studies led by Mavroveli, Petrides, and colleagues, the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) for the global score consistently ranged between .84 and .88 across both male and female adolescent cohorts.
• Subsequent international adaptations (including French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Chinese versions) have documented Cronbach’s alpha coefficients between .82 and .89, with McDonald’s composite reliability (omega total) yielding comparable values typically exceeding .85.
• Item-total correlations across the 30 items are robust, typically ranging from .30 to .62, with no single item subtraction resulting in a meaningful decline in the overall scale alpha.

Test-Retest Temporal Stability

Temporal stability assessments over intervals ranging from 3 to 12 months confirm that the TEIQUE-AF captures stable personality-like dispositions rather than transient mood states. Test-retest correlation coefficients have been recorded across studies between r = .74 and .82 over a 3-month window, and between r = .68 and .75 over a full academic year, indicating appropriate longitudinal stability during a developmental stage characterized by meaningful socio-emotional growth.

9. Factor Analysis

The latent structural integrity of the TEIQUE-AF has been evaluated using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) across numerous adolescent samples.

Exploratory Factor Analyses

Initial EFAs conducted on the 30 items using principal axis factoring and oblique rotation reveal an unmistakable scree plot elbow after the first extracted factor. The primary eigenvalue substantially exceeds subsequent eigenvalues (often with an eigenvalue-one ratio exceeding 4:1), confirming the presence of a strong general factor accounting for the bulk of common variance across the items. While minor secondary factors emerge corresponding roughly to the broad adult domains of Well-Being, Self-Control, Emotionality, and Sociability, the 30-item short form is specifically designed and statistically optimized to function as a unidimensional instrument for measuring global trait EI.

Confirmatory Factor Analyses and Model Fit

In CFA investigations, structural equation modeling has confirmed acceptable to excellent fit indices for a dominant general trait EI construct, particularly when evaluated using a bifactor model (a general trait EI factor alongside specific group factors) or a unidimensional model with appropriate error covariance allowances for reverse-worded items:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Values typically range from .90 to .94.
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): Values typically span .89 to .93.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Values consistently settle between .042 and .056 (90% CI [.038, .061]), well beneath the standard .06 threshold for adequate model fit.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Values consistently range between .041 and .052.

Measurement invariance analyses across biological sex (male vs. female) and adolescent age brackets (early adolescence [12–14] vs. late adolescence [15–17]) have established configural, metric, and scalar invariance, confirming that the TEIQUE-AF measures the same latent psychological construct with equivalent psychometric properties across demographic subgroups.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The operational characteristics of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent (TEIQUE-AF) are detailed below:

• Instrument Name: Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescent (TEIQUE-AF)
• Instrument Type: Self-report psychological scale / psychometric questionnaire
• Target Population: Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years (readable at a secondary school reading level)
• Administration Time: Approximately 5 to 10 minutes
• Number of Items: 30 items
• Response Scale: 7-point Likert scale (1 = Completely Disagree, 7 = Completely Agree)
• Scoring Structure: Yields a single overarching Global Trait Emotional Intelligence score.
• Reverse-Scored Items: Items 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22, 25, 26, and 28.
• Scoring Procedure:
  1. Invert the ratings for the 15 reverse-scored items: (8 minus the respondent’s raw score). For example, a response of 7 becomes 1, 6 becomes 2, and 1 becomes 7.
  2. Sum the direct item scores and the recoded scores for all 30 items.
  3. Compute the global score either as the arithmetic sum (ranging from 30 to 210) or, more conventionally, as the mean item score (sum divided by 30, resulting in a scale metric from 1.00 to 7.00), where higher scores indicate greater trait emotional intelligence.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire family was formally introduced in peer-reviewed literature between 2001 and 2007 by K. V. Petrides, with the adolescent adaptations published and validated systematically from 2006 onward. The instruments are copyrighted by K. V. Petrides and the London Psychometric Laboratory.

Permissions and Availability: The TEIQUE-AF is made freely available for non-commercial academic research, student dissertations, and standard educational use, subject to completing the official research registration through the London Psychometric Laboratory website. Commercial use, clinical consulting, commercial employee/talent screening, and use within for-profit ventures require formal licensing agreements and payment of royalties. Researchers must agree not to modify the phrasing or response options of the items to preserve instrument integrity and cross-study comparability.

12. References

Mavroveli, S., & Sánchez-Ruiz, M. J. (2011). Trait emotional intelligence influences on academic achievement and school behaviour. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(1), 112–134. https://doi.org/10.1348/2044-8279.002009

Mavroveli, S., Petrides, K. V., Rieffe, C., & Bakker, F. (2007). Trait emotional intelligence, psychological well-being and peer-rated social competence in adolescence. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 25(2), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151006X118577

Mavroveli, S., Petrides, K. V., Sangareau, Y., & Furnham, A. (2009). Exploring the relationships between trait emotional intelligence and socioemotional outcomes in early adolescence. Social Development, 18(3), 646–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00508.x

Mikolajczak, M., Petrides, K. V., & Hurry, J. (2009). Adolescents choosing self-harm as a emotion regulation strategy: The protective role of trait emotional intelligence. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 48(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466508X356135

Petrides, K. V. (2009). Technical manual for the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaires (TEIQUE). London Psychometric Laboratory.

Petrides, K. V. (2011). Ability and trait emotional intelligence. In T. Chamorro-Premuzic, S. von Stumm, & A. Furnham (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences (pp. 656–678). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444343120.ch25

Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425–448. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.416

Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2003). Trait emotional intelligence: Behavioural manifestations in the laboratory and in real life. European Journal of Personality, 17(4), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.484

Petrides, K. V., Frederickson, N., & Furnham, A. (2004). The role of trait emotional intelligence in academic performance and deviant behavior at school. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(2), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00084-9

Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., & Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space. British Journal of Psychology, 98(2), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712606X120618

Petrides, K. V., Sangareau, Y., Furnham, A., & Frederickson, N. (2006). Trait emotional intelligence and children’s peer relations at school. Social Development, 15(3), 537–547. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2006.00355.x

13. Items of the Scale