Trait Emotional Intelligence Profiles and Well-being Among Secondary School Students in Dhaka City: A Latent Profile Analysis

Background: Trait emotional intelligence (TEI) is an essential aspect of adolescent well-being, about which little is known, including its heterogeneity in Bangladeshi adolescents. This study applied a person-centered approach to identify TEI profiles among secondary school students in Dhaka City. Methods: A sample of 490 students completed the short form of the Adolescent Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) and the Mental Health Continuum. Four TEI dimensions were examined with latent profile analysis (LPA). Demographic correlates (sex, age, grade, family structure) were examined via chi-square test with Fisher’s exact test or Monte Carlo simulation where appropriate. Group differences in well-being outcomes were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and were supplemented by Welch’s corrections where the assumption of equal variance was violated. Results: Latent profile analysis identified a four-class solution as the best-fitting model with the lowest Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) (12820.40), highest entropy (0.7402), and significant bootstrapped likelihood ratio test (BLRT) ( P = .0099) results. Four distinct profiles were: High TEI/emotionally flourished (18.8%), moderately high TEI/emotionally resilient (38.8%), moderate TEI/average functioning (40.6%), and low TEI/vulnerable (1.8%). Profile membership varied significantly by age, grade level, and family structure, but not sex. Well-being indicators differed significantly across TEI profiles with medium to large effect sizes ( η² = 0.135-0.248). Students in higher TEI profiles (profiles 2 and 4) stated greater emotional, social, psychological, and overall well-being. Students in profile 3 (low TEI) showed the lowest well-being. Profile 2 (high TEI/flourishing) exhibited the highest well-being across all domains. Conclusion: The results provide evidence of adolescents’ TEI heterogeneity and the need for incorporating social-emotional learning to be included in curricula and targeted interventions, particularly for vulnerable teenagers, and those with resilience deficiencies.