Academic Stress and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help among Vietnamese students: the mediating role of Emotional Intelligence

<title>Abstract</title> <italic>Background</italic>: Emotional Intelligence is considered a noteworthy concept in the academic environment due to the theoretical significance and practical implications. The objectives of this research were to investigate (1) the correlation between academic stress and emotional intelligence, and (2) the mediating role of attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. <italic>Methods</italic>: An online questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 908 Vietnamese secondary school students from December 2023 to January 2024. Three scales were employed to gather demographic variables and self-reported data, including The Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, The Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents, and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help. <italic>Results</italic>: The findings indicated substantial differences across many variables, such as gender, grade, and academic performance ranking. The investigation identified substantial significant relationships, including emotional intelligence of others’ emotion appraisal positively affects self-expectation, while self-emotion appraisal negatively influences self-expectation. The analysis determined significant relationships, including others’ emotion appraisal positively affects self-expectation, while self-emotion appraisal negatively influences self-expectation. Use of emotion positively associates with the openness of seeking professional help. Moderation analyses revealed age moderating others’ emotion appraisal and despondency, self-emotion appraisal and the openness of seeking professional help. Conclusion: Emotional intelligence exerts a substantial influence on both academic stress levels and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological assistance. The results are analysed in accordance with the guidelines for conducting mixed-methods research. Workshops and awareness sessions for educators and students on emotional intelligence can beconducted with the cooperation of all parties concerned because of the endorsement of all stakeholders.