Emotional intelligence and perceived stress among undergraduate medical, dental, and allied health students: A comparative study

EI & perceived stress in health undergraduates

Abstract

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Emotional Intelligence (EI) encompasses five key principles: self-awareness, self-management, motivation, social awareness, and relationship management. Perceived stress (PS) refers to the emotions or thoughts someone has about the level of stress they experience, and it is common among undergraduate health students. High EI improves learning and reduces stress. The current study was designed to assess the levels of Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress, and the association between the, among undergraduate health students. The study also aimed to check the association between EI and the academic performance of students.

METHODOLOGY:  A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Lahore Medical and Dental College (January 2023 to June 2023), including participants from MBBS, BDS, Pharm D, BS Nutrition and BS Biotechnology. A comparative analysis was performed across gender, academic discipline, and year of study. SPSS version 22 was used for the analysis of the data.

RESULTS: A total of 1351 students were enrolled in the study. The mean score with standard deviation for EI and PS were 121.4 ± 19.35 and 22.53 ± 10.92, respectively. Female students had a higher level of EI, while no significant gender difference was observed for the level of PS. EI can predict PS with significant accuracy, as indicated by the ROC curve (AUC of 0.88; p-value < 0.01). There was no association of academic performance with Emotional intelligence as checked by linear regression (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The study finds that undergraduate medical, dental, and allied health students have high levels of PS and average EI. Moreover, low EI was associated with higher stress.