Mediation Effect of Emotional Intelligence on the Effectiveness of TA Therapy in Controlling Academic Stress

The present study examined whether emotional intelligence (EI) mediates the effectiveness of Transactional Analysis-Based Group Therapy (TAGT) in reducing academic stress among secondary school students. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was employed with 158 ninth-grade students (aged 14–16) from a government-aided school in Kerala, India. Participants were divided into three treatment groups and one waitlist control group. Academic stress was measured using the Instrument for Measuring Academic Stress (I-MAS), and EI was assessed using the Student Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS). The intervention consisted of 14 sessions of the Transactional Analysis-based Psycho-Pedagogic Programme (TAP-3). Mediation analysis was conducted using Jamovi. Results demonstrated that TAGT significantly enhanced EI (β = 0.172, p < .001) and reduced academic stress (β = –0.197, p < .001). The indirect pathway indicated that EI partially mediated this relationship (Estimate = –2.4388, p < .001), suggesting that TAGT reduced academic stress partly by improving EI. However, pre-intervention stress levels did not significantly predict EI or influence stress reduction. Students with higher baseline EI showed greater gains in EI, which further contributed to stress reduction. Overall, findings highlight that TAGT effectively reduces academic stress, with EI serving as a significant but partial mediator, and suggest its potential for school-based mental health interventions.