Adaptation to higher education (AHE) presents significant academic, social, and emotional challenges, especially for first-year students. Several studies have highlighted Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a key protective factor in supporting mental health, particularly during the transition to higher education. EI has been linked to greater psychological well-being and increased motivation for learning. Within the academic context, it functions as a significant predictor of student success, as it encompasses essential skills for managing one’s own emotions and effectively responding to external demands. Students with higher levels of EI are generally more capable of coping with the academic and social pressures that characterize university life. This study aimed to identify which specific dimensions of Emotional Intelligence (EI) most significantly contribute to students’ AHE. A total of 175 psychology undergraduate students from a Portuguese university completed self-report questionnaires at the beginning of the second semester. EI was assessed using the four subdimensions of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Rodrigues et al., 2011): Self-Emotion Appraisal (SEA), Others’ Emotions Appraisal (OEA), Use of Emotions (UOE), and Regulation of Emotions (ROE). AHE was measured using the Higher Education Adaptation Questionnaire (AHEQ; Araújo et al. (2014). A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the relative contribution of each EI subdimension in predicting AHE. The model was statistically significant, F(4,170) = 19.160, p < .001, explaining 35.4% of the variance in AHE. Among the four EI subdimensions, UOE was the strongest predictor (β = .414, t = 5.267, p < .001), followed by OEA (β = .273, t = 4.047, p < .001). These findings suggest that the ability to use emotions to enhance performance and the capacity to recognize emotions in others are particularly relevant for students’ academic adjustment. These findings underscore the importance of emotional and psychological resources, in facilitating students’ adjustment to higher education. The results offer insights for designing targeted university interventions that foster academic, emotional, and social adaptation of HE students.

Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Self-Emotion Appraisal, Others’ Emotion Appraisal, Use of Emotions, Regulation of Emotions, Adaptation to Higher Education.