Washington, Nov 4 : A study has found that people who smoke either tobacco or cannabis have lower Emotional Intelligence (EI).

The term ‘Emotional Intelligence’ could be defined as the capacity to perceive, comprehend and regulate one's own emotions and those of others so as to be able to distinguish between emotions and use this information as a guide for one's thoughts and actions.

The Stress and Health Research Group (GIES) of the UAB Department of General, Development and Educational Psychology analysed the relation between EI and the use of tobacco and cannabis among 133 students with an average age of 21.5.

The analysis of the study found that students who had started smoking either tobacco or cannabis at a younger age and who regularly smoked these substances obtained lower scores in questions related to emotional regulation.

Thus students who were less able to regulate their emotional state were more tempted to consume tobacco and/or cannabis and regular consumption of these substances was a way of making up for the emotional shortage.

Young people who clearly comprehended the emotions they were experiencing, together with the situations in which they appeared, were also those who consumed less amounts of cannabis.

The researchers concluded that personal abilities were key element in adapting to the demands of each person's surroundings and, in addition to actions addressed to preventing first contacts with drugs and their consolidation among people, developing one's EI could help prevent teenagers from the temptation of taking drugs. (ANI)