Emotional Intelligence in relation to their Mental Health among selected undergraduate Health Science students

Abstract

Background: In psychology field, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the vital thoughts that has been newly arrived into the educational as well as management field. It’s position in education is unquestionable. It has also turned out to be important in various application in different fields like training, professions and self- improvement. People with greater EI level could recognize and manage emotions that cause stress and hence have a lower chance of having health problem. Methods: In this study non-experimental descriptive design, descriptive approach was adopted. The main study was conducted among 1st year B.SC(N) and BPT students of KAHER Institute of Nursing Sciences and Institute of Physiotherapy with a sample size of 200 students aged 17 to 20 years. Sample of the study was selected by using purposive sampling technique. A Schutte’s Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Tool and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale consisting 18-item were selected for the study. Results: The evaluations of the study showed the mean scores of male and female students i.e.,109.66 and 109.63 which indicates that no significant difference was found between male and female students on emotional maturity. Conclusion: EI is a forecaster of mental health and it plays an important role to influence the mental health scores. There was no association between the selected socio-demographic variables with emotional intelligence scores and mental health scores except gender.