Emotional Intelligence and perceived stress against the backdrop of the Covid-19 Pandemic among students of a medical college in Pakistan: A cross-sectional correlational study

Abstract

Introduction:There is scant knowledge about emotional intelligence and pandemic perceived stress scores of medical students in Pakistan. The Covid-19 Pandemic has underscored the reality of a myriad of problems in medical education, academic stress amongst them. This study aims to find the corelation between emotional intelligence and pandemic perceived stress scores of students in a medical college in Pakistan. Socio-demographic factors are used tofind possible correlations and divergences between pandemic perceived stress scores and emotional intelligence in undergraduate medical students. Objective:The primary objectives are an exploration of the demographic attributes of participants, an assessment of students’ levels of perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and emotional intelligence, and an exploration of a correlation between pandemic perceived stress scores and emotional intelligence Methods:The present study utilizes a descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design. A convenience sample of 86 medical students in the first and second years of MBBS were recruited for the study. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire, covering three sections: demographic factors, pandemic perceived stress (the Perceived Stress Scale) and, emotional intelligence (the MindTools test). Results:The results demonstrated that majority of the participants (86%) had an average level of emotional intelligence. Only 14% had high levels of emotional intelligence. A negative non-significant correlation was noted between Pandemic perceived stress scores and emotional intelligence. While a significant difference (P< 0.01) was noted between the Pandemic perceived stress scores of males and females, with females exhibiting more stress than males. A slightly less significant difference (P<0.05) for Pandemic perceived stress was also found between students of first and second years medical students. Second year students were observed to exhibit greater stress. Conclusion:The study findings demonstrate that emotional intelligence does not significantly differ by educational year or gender while greater levels of Pandemic perceived stress was noted to differ across genders and educational years. However, lower levels of Pandemic perceived stress were associated with higher (although non-significant) levels of emotional intelligence. It is thus, important to impart pertinent information about emotional intelligence to medical students. It is also essential to teach them to identify and therefore, overcome stressors. Information and guidance about stress and emotional intelligence should be incorporated into the curricula of health-related fields.   KEYWORDS: Emotional intelligence, Pandemic, perceived stress, correlational study, medical students