Emotional intelligence of 3- to 6-year-olds and parenting style: Peer communication ability as a mediator

We examined the associations of parenting style and children’s emotional intelligence with the children’s peer communication ability, focusing especially on the mediating role of peer communication ability in the relationship between parenting style and children’s emotional intelligence. We recruited 306 parents in the cities of Hangzhou, Changchun, and Lanzhou in China to participate in the study. Participants reported on their parenting style and the emotional intelligence and peer communication ability of their 3- to 6-year-old children. We used structural equation modeling to explore the mechanism of how parenting style influenced the emotional intelligence of the children. The results showed that (a) there were significant positive correlations between parenting style and the emotional intelligence and peer communication ability of their children, (b) parenting style had a significant influence on children’s emotional intelligence, and (c) children’s peer communication ability played a partial mediating role in the influence of parenting style on children’s emotional intelligence.