The study aimed to determine the level of Emotional intelligence and resilience in relation to the mental health of adolescents in Khartoum locality, Khartoum state, Sudan 2022.

This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 392 high school students participated from four different high schools chosen using the multistage cluster sampling. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was filled by the students including both Arabic and English versions consisted of the 30-item trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- short form (TEQ-SF) for emotional intelligence measurement, Brief Resilience Scale-6 (BRS-6) as a brief measure for resilience, and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) for anxiety and depression screening as a measure for mental health. Data were analysed using SPSS 25, Pearson correlation test, and linear regression analysis were used to measure the associations between the variables.

In a sample of 392 Sudanese high school students, the emotional intelligence score was high (mean 131.53 ± 22.16). While Psychological resilience was normal (mean 3.20 ± 0.51). Students had mild to moderate degrees of anxiety, and depression at 89%, and 78% respectively. There was a strong positive association between emotional intelligence and psychological resilience (r = .272, p < .0005). Emotional intelligence had no direct significant relationship with anxiety and depression. Resilience was positively correlated with anxiety scores to a small extent (r= .105) i.e., the more resilient an adolescent is, the more anxious he/she is. There was no association between resilience and depression. Anxiety had a strong positive correlation with depression (r = .540) and a significant negative association with academic performance (r = -.102) indicating students’ suffering from anxiety had poorer academic scoring.

A significant unique contributor to the prediction of the resilience levels was the parents’ status, p value = 0.011 with an unstandardized beta coefficient of .368 i.e., if the parents were separated, a student has higher resilience and vice versa.

It is crucial to investigate the causes of the reported levels of anxiety and depression in secondary school students. Rapid detection will potentiate the possibility to provide suitable care, prevention from psychiatric morbidities and improvement of students’ academic performance by means of comprehensive psychological programs for screening, educating and training students including emotional intelligence training boosting their happiness, mental stamina and success.