Valuation of perceived stress, coping strategies and emotional intelligence among nursing students: A Questionnaire based study

Introduction: Emotional intelligence or EI is defined as an individual’s set of abilities, both verbal and nonverbal, to perceive, understand, utilize and manage personal emotions, as well as the emotions of other individuals. It is an individual’s mental ability to utilize and manage emotions in solving problems. Materials and Methods: The PSS is a 10- item self-report instrument designed to measure the degree to which events are appraised as stressful and the frequency of perceived stressful situations. Respondents are instructed to report the frequency of perceived stress over the past month from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very Often). Total scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40. The Brief COPE is a 28-item version of the COPE Inventory, a self-report measure of coping responses. Scores for coping responses are calculated by summing scores for the 12 items on the maladaptive coping subscale and the 16 items on the adaptive coping subscale. Results: there were 65 males and 85 females. 95 were in bachelor’s degree and 55 were in master’s degree. 42 were in first year, 38 in second, 48 in third, 22 in 4th year. 95 were unmarried, and 55 were married. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Authors found that interventions aimed at increasing emotional intelligence may help to lessen perceived stress for students in the helping disciplines.