Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Substance Abuse among Secondary School Students in Nakuru County, Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), operationalized through self-regulation and social skills, and substance abuse among secondary school students in Nakuru County, Kenya, and to identify ways of promoting students’ emotional intelligence and mitigating substance abuse. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational design was used in public secondary schools. Questionnaires were distributed to 384 students, of whom 361 responded (94.0%); 43 of 48 targeted deputy principals and teacher counsellors also participated (89.6%). Student questionnaires and staff interviews generated quantitative and qualitative data. Descriptive statistics and Pearson chi-square tests were used for quantitative analysis, and staff comments were summarized thematically. Findings: A total of 57.9% of students reported that substance use occurred in their school. Alcohol (16.9%) and cannabis/bhang (12.2%) had the highest “always” response rates among the substances listed. Students commonly reported being able to resist drug-use temptation (83.7% “always”) and peer pressure (72.9% “always”), although 24.7% reported never proactively seeking support to maintain a drug-free lifestyle. The study reported significant associations between substance-abuse indicators and self-regulation, χ²(13, N = 361) = 46.460, p < .001; social skills, χ²(13, N = 361) = 34.208, p = .001; and overall, EI, χ²(19, N = 361) = 114.058, p < .001. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Because all self-regulation items referred to substance-specific behaviour, these results are subject to criterion contamination, and the absence of cross-tabulations and effect sizes limits interpretation of direction and magnitude. Students and staff endorsed awareness, counselling, mentoring, family involvement, and extracurricular activities as prevention priorities. Schools should integrate practical self-regulation, communication, assertive refusal, and help-seeking activities into guidance and life-skills programmes and ensure confidential counselling. Future studies should use a validated trait EI instrument whose sub-scales exclude substance-specific items and should report complete contingency tables and effect sizes. The cross-sectional self-report design does not establish causation or population prevalence.