A Two-Sample Examination of the Relationship Between Trait Emotional Intelligence, Burnout, and Coping Strategies in Athletes

Existing research has shown that emotional intelligence (EI) and teacher self-efficacy (TSE) play an important role in the work of in-service teachers. However, there is limited research on these variables and their associations among pre-service teachers. Also, the cultural context is expected to influence EI and TSE. Therefore, this study examined the associations between EI and TSE in two cultures, Finland and Greece. A comprehensive evaluation of EI was done by including both trait EI and ability EI measures. Data from primary education student teachers from Finland (N = 82) and Greece (N = 117) were collected online. The measures of EI and TSE exhibited full configural and metric measurement invariance and partial scalar and residual/strict measurement invariance across cultures. Finnish students had significantly higher scores on all EI variables than Greek students, whereas Greek students scored higher on self-efficacy for student engagement. Structural equation modelling showed that trait EI was moderately associated with one facet of ability EI, namely emotional management, but not with emotional understanding, implying that trait EI and ability EI can be considered as partially distinct constructs. A statistically significant positive association between trait EI and TSE was found in Finland, whereas a statistically significant negative association between ability EI and TSE was found in Greece. The findings have important implications for the models of trait and ability EI, for understanding the links between trait and ability EI and TSE during the critical phase of teacher education in the two cultural contexts studied, and for culturally informed teacher education.

The study was designed to examine whether trait emotional intelligence would moderate the impact of negative emotions at work on job burnout. A total of 188 female nurses participated in this study and completed measures of trait affectivity, emotional intelligence, anger and sadness at work, and burnout. The results revealed significant and positive relationships between both types of negative emotions and burnout above and beyond demographics and the nurses’ trait affectivity. Importantly, the study demonstrated that trait emotional intelligence buffers the effects of negative emotions on burnout. Specifically, anger- and sadness-related emotions predicted greater burnout among nurses with low trait emotional intelligence but not among nurses with high trait emotional intelligence. These results suggest that emotional intelligence training could be implemented to prevent the adverse effect of negative emotions felt at work on job burnout.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is one's ability to monitor one's own and other's emotions and the use of emotional information to enhance thought and action. Previous behavioral studies have shown that EI is separable into trait EI and ability EI, which are known to have distinct characteristics at the behavioral level. A relevant and unanswered question is whether both forms of EI have a dissociable neural basis. Previous studies have individually explored the neural underpinnings of trait EI and ability EI, but there has been no direct comparison of the neural mechanisms underlying these two types of emotional intelligence. The present study addresses this question by using resting-state fMRI to examine the correlational pattern between the regional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the brain and individuals' trait EI and ability EI scores. We found that trait EI scores were positively correlated with the ALFF in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus, and negatively correlated with the ALFF in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex. In contrast, ability EI scores were positively correlated with the ALFF in the insula. Taken together, these results provide preliminary evidence of dissociable neural substrates between trait EI and ability EI.

Maladaptive coping mechanisms influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals facing acute and chronic stress. Trait emotional intelligence (EI) may provide a protective shield against the debilitating effects of maladaptive coping thus contributing to maintained HRQoL. Low trait EI, on the other hand, may predispose individuals to apply maladaptive coping, consequently resulting in lower HRQoL. The current research is comprised of two studies. Study 1 was designed to investigate the protective effects of trait EI and its utility for efficient coping in dealing with the stress caused by chronic heart failure (CHF) in a cross-cultural setting (Pakistan vs Germany). N = 200 CHF patients were recruited at cardiology institutes of Multan, Pakistan and Wurzburg as well as Brandenburg, Germany. Path analysis confirmed the expected relation between low trait EI and low HRQoL and revealed that this association was mediated by maladaptive metacognitions and negative coping strategies in Pakistani but not German CHF patients. Interestingly, also the specific coping strategies were culture-specific. The Pakistani sample considered religious coping to be highly important, whereas the German sample was focused on adopting a healthy lifestyle such as doing exercise. These findings are in line with cultural characteristics suggesting that German CHF patients have an internal locus of control as compared to an external locus of control in Pakistani CHF patients. Finally, the findings from study 1 corroborate the culture-independent validity of the metacognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder. In addition to low trait EI, high interoception accuracy (IA) may predispose individuals to interpret cardiac symptoms as threatening, thus leading to anxiety. To examine this proposition, Study 2 compared individuals with high vs low IA in dealing with a psychosocial stressor (public speaking) in an experimental lab study. In addition, a novel physiological intervention named transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) and cognitive reappraisal (CR) were applied during and after the anticipation of the speech in order to facilitate coping with stress. N= 99 healthy volunteers participated in the study. Results showed interesting descriptive results that only reached trend level. They suggested a tendency of high IA individuals to perceive the situation as more threatening as indicated by increased heart rate and reduced heart rate variability in the high-frequency spectrum as well as high subjective anxiety during anticipation of and actual performance of the speech. This suggests a potential vulnerability of high IA individuals for developing anxiety disorders, specifically social anxiety disorder, in case negative self-focused attention and negative evaluation is applied to the (more prominently perceived) increased cardiac responding during anticipation of and the actual presentation of the public speech. The study did not reveal any significant protective effects of t-VNS and CR. In summary, the current research suggested that low trait EI and high IA predicted worse psychological adjustment to chronic and acute distress. Low trait EI facilitated maladaptive metacognitive processes resulting in the use of negative coping strategies in Study 1; however, increased IA regarding cardioceptions predicted high physiological arousal in study 2. Finally, the German vs. the Pakistani culture greatly affected the preference for specific coping strategies. These findings have implications for caregivers to provide culture-specific treatments on the one hand. On the other hand, they highlight high IA as a possible vulnerability to be targeted for the prevention of (social) anxiety.

This study examines the role of some personal and professional factors in compassion fatigue among health-care professionals. Research participants included 182 (89 mental and 93 medical) health-care professionals who completed an assessment battery measuring compassion fatigue, emotion management, trait emotional intelligence, situation-specific coping strategies, and negative affect. Major findings indicate that both self-report “trait” emotional intelligence and ability-based emotion management are inversely associated with compassion fatigue; adaptive coping is inversely related to compassion fatigue; and differences exist between mental and medical professions in emotional intelligence, coping strategies, and negative affect. Furthermore, problem-focused coping appears to mediate the association between trait emotional intelligence and compassion fatigue. These findings shed light on the role of emotional factors in compassion fatigue among health-care professionals. Beyond enhancing our knowledge of practitioners' professional quality of life, the current study serves as a basis for the early identification of groups of practitioners at risk for compassion fatigue.

There have been theoretical speculations and empirical indications that individual differences in emotional intelligence (EI) are associated with quality of attachment, yet many issues regarding this relationship have remained unsettled or even unexplored. Spelling out and attempting to fill some of these gaps, the present study examined the specific contribution of attachment quality in explaining variance in both ability EI and trait EI, with traditionally conceived intelligence and the basic personality traits controlled for. Participants were 251 employed adults (116 males; age range 21–62, M = 40.3, SD = 8.14), who completed a test of ability EI; a questionnaire assessing trait EI; a battery of standard intelligence tests; a Five-Factor inventory of personality; and two self-report measures of attachment quality. Attachment security was found to be related to higher EI, associations being small-to-moderate for ability EI, and moderate-to-large for trait EI. In hierarchical regression analyses, attachment predicted a significant amount of unique variance in both ability and trait EI, beyond intelligence and personality. Moreover, attachment Anxiety surfaced as the best single (understandably, negative) predictor of both EIs, their only other mutual predictors being the g-factor and Conscientiousness. Altogether, these results yield a fuller picture of what constitutes individual differences in objectively assessed and self-perceived emotional abilities, revealing that a substantial portion of them may be understood with reference to attachment security. The present study thus warrants more extensive, longitudinal research into the developmental interplay between attachment and the two EIs.

The present study examines the direct and indirect effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) on levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and whether these are moderated by coping strategies. To this end, the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, Coping Strategies Inventory and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales were administered to 567 university students. The findings point to a direct relationship between EI and the levels of anxiety, depression and stress. EI directly explained the university students' levels of anxiety, depression and stress, and it indirectly explained such levels through coping strategies. The article concludes by pointing out practical implications for university education and the improvement of students' socio-emotional well-being.

ABSTRACTAimTo examine the Trait emotional intelligence levels among nurses and nursing students, investigate the association between its components and explore the relationship between demographic variables and Trait emotional intelligence.DesignCross‐sectional Quantitative Study.MethodIn 2024, we gathered self‐reported Trait emotional intelligence scores from 128 nurses and nursing students through an online survey. SPSS was employed to analyse the data, and associations between Trait emotional intelligence components and participant characteristics were measured using correlation and regression techniques.ResultThe mean Trait emotional intelligence score was 4.92, with Well‐being (5.17) and Emotionality (5.05) being the highest components, while Self‐control (4.65) and Sociability (4.57) scored lower than the average score. Trait emotional intelligence scores increased with age. There was a strong association between the components of Trait emotional intelligence.ConclusionThe study found that nurses and nursing students in this study have relatively high trait emotional intelligence. However, self‐control and sociability were the lowest‐scoring components, indicating key areas for development. The results underscore the significance of integrating emotional intelligence training into nursing education and professional development.ImpactThe study addressed a gap in knowledge by examining the associations between emotional intelligence and demographic variables among nurses and nursing students. The findings offer insights for policymakers and educators to enhance emotional intelligence training for nurses and nursing students.What Does This Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Clinical Community?This paper underscores the significance of emotional intelligence in nursing care and identifies demographic factors influencing emotional intelligence training. It also encourages further global research to explore emotional intelligence's role in clinical practice.Reporting MethodThe study followed STROBE guidelines for cross‐sectional research.Public ContributionNo patient or public involvement was included in the design or conduct of this study.

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between emotional intelligence and coping strategies in caregivers with Alzheimer's disease at Pusaka 41 Nursing Home, Al Madiniyah Foundation. Caregivers who care for elderly people with Alzheimer's disease often experience significant emotional, physical, and psychological problems. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that influence their ability to cope with stress, including emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand and manage one's own and others' emotions. On the other hand, coping strategies are ways that a person uses to deal with pressure and difficult situations. The scale used in this study to measure coping strategies was sourced from Gustina (2019) and adapted to the research context by the researcher. Meanwhile, the scale in measuring emotional intelligence from Rofiah (2015) was also modified by the researcher. The study population consisted of 30 caregivers selected using the saturated sampling method. During data collection, questionnaires were distributed directly to respondents at the research location. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and coping strategies. The correlation coefficient was 0.461, with a significant difference of 0.010 (p<0,05). This means that the higher the caregiver's emotional intelligence, the more effective coping strategies they use to deal with stress in caring for the elderly with Alzheimer's disease. Conversely, lower emotional intelligence scores tend to be associated with higher emotional intelligence scores. Conversely, lower levels of emotional intelligence tend to correlate with the use of fewer coping strategies.

Actor-partner interdependence analysis in depressed patient-caregiver dyads: Influence of emotional intelligence and coping strategies on anxiety and depression

Theoretical links between emotional knowledge and theory of mind (ToM) have previously been proposed. This study investigates this relationship using measures of both ability and trait emotional intelligence (EI). Our sample comprised 194 children, divided into two age groups (5-7 years and 8-10 years). Children participated in measures of false belief understanding, advanced tests of ToM, ability EI and trait EI, and a standardized language assessment. For both age groups, we found that only ability EI was related to false belief understanding. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that the understanding and managing branches of ability EI predicted unique variance in false belief understanding once controlling for age, language, and the other ability EI branches. Trait EI failed to display any association with false belief understanding. Ability and trait EI were associated with more advanced ToM tasks undertaken only by the older sample. These results offer support for previous research that has found a relationship between emotion perception and labelling and ToM. They also provide new knowledge: (1) higher order emotional knowledge, measured by ability EI, is associated with advanced ToM; and (2) emotional self efficacy, as measured by trait EI, is also important in advanced ToM. Furthermore, they provide the first account of associations between standardized EI measures and ToM.

Stress is an integral part of daily work for nurses, especially those who work in intensive care units (ICUs). However, chronic stress can affect nurses' mental and physical well-being, increasing their risk of burnout and decreasing the quality of care. A higher emotional intelligence (EI) level may be correlated with greater use of effective coping strategies, leading to a reduction of the adverse effects of stress. This study aimed to examine the relationship between EI and coping strategies among adult ICU nurses in Poland. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Current adult ICU nurses in nine Polish hospitals were invited to participate. The survey instruments used were: the Polish version of the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test, the Inventory to Measure Coping Strategies with Stress (Brief-COPE), and a self-constructed questionnaire. 114/543 (21%) nurses completed the survey. ICU nurses showed an average level of EI (70.2%). The main stress coping strategies were active coping and planning, the rarest being substance use, behavioural disengagement, and denial. For nurses with a higher EI level, the most frequently used strategies included positive reframing (R=0.43; p < .001), active coping (R=0.38; p < .001), planning (R=0.37; p < .001) and religion (R=0.25; p=.006). Nurses were less likely to utilize strategies of behavioural disengagement (R=-0.32; p=.001) and self-blame (R=-0.40; p < .001). EI may have an impact on coping strategies, as a higher EI level was correlated with the greater use of effective coping strategies in ICU nurses. Training in coping with stress and increasing EI may have a positive impact on reducing the risk of burnout in nurses and thus improving the quality of care delivered.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of individual emotional intelligence (EI) traits for auditors in Big 4 and mid-sized public accounting firms. A total of 112 auditors were surveyed from all of the Big 4 and ten mid-sized firms, with respondents ranging from partner to first year staff accountants. Each participant rated and ranked the 15 EI traits identified in the TEIQue model for their importance to auditors. Stress management, adaptability, self-motivation, self-esteem and emotional regulation were rated as the most important traits. Trait happiness, impulsiveness, trait optimism, emotional expression and emotional perception were rated as less important, but still somewhat important. Assertiveness was considered to be more important to audit management as compared to supervisor/staff levels. Public accounting firms have already accepted the importance of EI in the audit process, yet prior accounting research has not explored which particular EI traits are most important. Understanding the relative importance of the various EI traits can lead to better screening of new hires and more focused EI training. This paper finds that all EI traits have some relevance for auditors across firm size and management/staff levels, however certain traits are considered much more important than others. This is an original finding.

Mythodrama group psychotherapy approach of resolving conflict and bullying has been successful as an intervention in a school setting. This study aimed to provide further evaluation of Mythodrama group approach. A total of 97 Georgian adolescents (Mean of age = 14.65, SD = 1.76) participated in the controlled experimental study. Participants of the experimental group received a Mythodrama group intervention during a period of three months. Analyses revealed a significant increase in emotional intelligence, prosocial behavior and adaptive coping strategies in the intervention group. No significant changes were observed in the control group. The findings suggest that adolescents’ behavior, trait emotional intelligence and coping strategies can be improved using Mythodrama intervention. Follow-up research is required to reveal the persistence and replicability of the result.

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and coping strategies used by adolescents with disabilities, on the one hand to understand how emotional skills influence stress management and everyday challenges and, on the other hand, considering that it could help specialists to develop interventions and educational programs that support the improvement of emotional skills and coping strategies among adolescents with disabilities. This cross-sectional study included 100 Romanian adolescents with neuromotor disabilities aged 13 to 18 years (M = 15.2) divided into three groups according to the stages of adolescence: Group 1 (13 years-46 respondents), Group 2 (14 to 17 years-26 respondents), and Group 3 (18 years-28 respondents). They completed a questionnaire that assessed the emotional intelligence of the adolescents (positive impression, interpersonal, intrapersonal, stress management, adaptability, and general mood) as well as another one that assessed the possible cognitive emotional coping strategies (e.g., "blame self", "acceptance", "rumination", "positive refocusing", "refocus on planning", "positive reappraisal", "putting into perspective", "catastrophizing", and "blaming others") that they may adopt in managing life situations related to their health problem. Group 3 has significantly higher scores than Group 2 on the Interpersonal subscale and also significantly higher scores than Group 1 on the Stress management. Our analysis also revealed significant correlations between adaptive coping strategies and emotional intelligence domains across all groups, with positive associations between acceptance and stress management, as well as between positive refocusing and adaptability. Regression analysis identified adaptive coping strategies as significant predictors of emotional intelligence, explaining 29% of its variance. Our findings underscore the critical importance of targeted interventions to enhance emotional regulation and adaptive coping strategies in adolescents with neuromotor disabilities. By focusing on strengthening emotional intelligence and tailoring interventions to developmental stages, these programs can promote better emotional and social functioning, particularly in challenging situations.