Journal of Occupational
Health and Epidemiology
Rafsanjan university Of medical sciences
Volume 14, Issue 1 (Winter 2025)
J Occup Health Epidemiol 2025, 14(1): 65-73 |
Back to browse issues page
Ethics code: IR.SUMS.REC.1397.935
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Heydarifard M, Rakhshani T, Fararoie M, Abdullatif Khafaie M. Effect of an Emotional Intelligence Educational Program on Perceived and Occupational Stress of Health Workers: A Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. J Occup Health Epidemiol 2025; 14 (1) :65-73
URL: http://johe.rums.ac.ir/article-1-969-en.html
URL: http://johe.rums.ac.ir/article-1-969-en.html
Related article in
Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Similar articles
1- Nursing Instructor, Andimeshk Welfare Training Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. & M.Sc. Student in Community Health Education, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
2- Associate Prof., Dept. of Public Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
3- Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Health, HIV/AIDS Research Center, Research Institute for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
4- Associate Prof., Dept. of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. ,m.khafaie@live.com
2- Associate Prof., Dept. of Public Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
3- Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Health, HIV/AIDS Research Center, Research Institute for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
4- Associate Prof., Dept. of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. ,
Article history
Received: 2024/10/14
Accepted: 2025/02/9
ePublished: 2025/03/19
Accepted: 2025/02/9
ePublished: 2025/03/19
Subject:
Occupational Health
Abstract: (118 Views)
Background: Coping with occupational stress is vital for health workers to communicate better with patients and ultimately the interactions between patients and providers impact the quality of care. This study aimed to explore the effect of an emotional intelligence training program on occupational and perceived stress in health workers.
Materials and Methods: A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in Andimeshk Health Centers between January and March 2019. The absolute changes from baseline to final emotional intelligence, occupational stress, and perceived stress were measured. Standard questionnaires including the Brad-Berry & Graves Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, the HSE Standard Occupational Stress Questionnaire, and Cohen's perceived stress, were used. The in-person training program included two workshops (duration= 6 hours) and a 30-day follow-up.
Results: Of 80 health workers, 75 fulfilled the study requirements (n=37 allocated to the experiment vs. n= 38 allocated to the control). Baseline emotional intelligence in the experimental group improved by about 1.16 units versus a non-significant change in the control group (=-1.21). At baseline, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of the mean scores for occupational stress and perceived stress (p> 0.05). We observed a non-significant improvement in occupational stress and perceived stress in the experimental group. However, the score changes in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: We found that emotional intelligence improvement could significantly impact stress management and perceived stress; therefore, it is recommended that emotional intelligence training be included in annual training programs.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence [MeSH], Occupational Stress [MeSH], Health Workers [MeSH], Randomized Controlled Trial [MeSH]
References
1. Vaghee S, Meshkin Yazd A, Asgharipour N, Ebrahimzadeh S. The effect of critical thinking training on nurses’ job stress in psychiatric ward. J Fundam Ment Health. 2014;16(61):12-21. [DOI]
2. Mahmoody G, Bagherian F. Effect of spiritual intelligence training on nurses' job stress. Q J Nurs Manag. 2015;4(1):69-79. [URL]
3. EsmailPour K, Ebrahimi L. Role of Personality and Emotional Intelligence on Perceived Stress among Employees of Motogen Company. J Mod Psychol Res. 2015;10(37):25-44. [URL]
4. Piri-Kamrani M, Dehghan F, Bashiri H. The Effectiveness of Stress Management Skills Training on Perceived Stress and Resiliency of Women with Multiple Sclerosis. J Health Care. 2015;17(4):319-28. [URL]
5. Mokarami H, Choobineh A, Nazifi M. A systematic review on the available questionnaires for the assessment of work-related stressors. Iran Occup Health. 2017;14(5):62-74. [URL]
6. Austin EJ, Saklofske DH, Mastoras SM. Emotional intelligence, coping and exam-related stress in Canadian undergraduate students. Aust J Psychol. 2010;62(1):42-50. [DOI]
7. Klinic Community Health Center. Stress& Stress Management. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Klinic Community Health Center; 2010.
8. Emamimoghadam Z, Davoudi.M, BehnamVashani.H, Amin Yazdy.A. The effect of teaching emotional intellignce skills on response to educational stress in high school girls. Evid Based Care J. 2013;3(1):27-36. [DOI]
9. Nouri N, Moeini B, Ghaleiha A, Faradmal J, Zareban I. The Effect of Emotional Intelligence Training Based on Social Support Theory on Reducing Perceived Stress and Promoting Communication Skills among Male High School Students in Hamadan. J Educ Community Health. 2017;3(4):45-51. [DOI]
10. Foruhar A, Eslami M, Sadeghi M. Effect of Learning the Emotional Intelligence Parameters on Increasing the Self-Efficiency and Decreasing the Career Stress. J Intern Med Todey. 2015;20(4):257-61. [DOI]
11. Goren L. Ten Strategies for Building Emotional Intelligence and Preventing Burnout. Fam Pract Manag. 2018;25(1):11-4. [PMID]
12. McKinley SK, Phitayakorn R. Emotional Intelligence and Simulation. Surg Clin North Am. 2015;95(4):855-67. [DOI] [PMID]
13. Rostami M, Movaghari MR, Taghavi T, Mehran A. The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Coping Style of Nurses in Hospital in Kermamshah University of Medical Science. Iran J Nurs Res. 2016;11(1):51-61. [URL]
14. Ghorbanshiroodi Sh, Rangrazian F. The Effect of Training Emotional Intelligence on Public Health of Nurses Working in Hospitalization Wards of Shafa Hospital of Rasht City. Res Med Educ. 2013;5(2):1-7. [DOI]
15. Fox M. Putting emotional intelligence to work. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(9):1138-43. [DOI] [PMID]
16. Mehrabian F, Ahmadinezhad M, Taheri M. The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Empowerment of Staff in Guilan Health Centers. Res Med Educ. 2016;8(3):45-52. [DOI]
17. Hanefeld J, Powell-Jackson T, Balabanova D. Understanding and measuring quality of care: dealing with complexity. Bull World Health Organ. 2017;95(5):368-74. [DOI] [PMID] [PMCID]
18. Heydari-Fard M, Khafaie M, Rakhshani T, Fararooie M. Emotional Intelligence and Occupational Stress of Health Care Staff in Andimeshk in Iran. J Occup Hyg Eng. 2021;7(4):44-52. [DOI]
19. Sharafi H, Gholami P, Sadeghi S, Ghorbani M, Rezaei F. Job Stress and Related Factors among Staff of the Operation Room in Bandar Abbas. Iran J Rehabil Res Nurs. 2018;4(2):29-34. [URL]
20. Safaei M, Abedian Z, Mazlum SR. Relationship between Job Stress and Work Ability of midwives working in Health centers of Mashhad city in 2013. J Torbat Heydariyeh Univ Med Sci. 2016;4(1);30-5. [URL]
21. Berdbery T, Greaves J. The Emotional intelligence quick book: everything you need to know to put your EQ to work. 1st ed. New York, United States: Simon & Schuster; 2005.
22. Abbasi S, Rakhshani T, Rezaie M, Ebrahimi MR, Taravatmanesh S. A study of emotional intelligence and the effect of educational intervention in emergency medicine residents. Arch Psychiatry Psychother. 2018;20(1):45-52. [DOI]
23. Gholizadeh Tehrani N, Nourian M, Shahmohammadi N. The impact of Emotional Intelligence Instruction on Emotional Intelligent improvement in Students of Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch in 2014-2015. Med Sci J Islamic Azad Univ Med Sci. 2017;27(1):32-9. [URL]
24. Kozlowski D, Hutchinson M, Hurley J, Browne G. Increasing nurses' emotional intelligence with a brief intervention. Appl Nurs Res. 2018;41:59-61. [DOI] [PMID]
25. Dacre Pool L, Qualter P. Improving emotional intelligence and emotional self-efficacy through a teaching intervention for university students. Learn Individ Differ. 2012;22(3):306-12. [DOI]
26. Halamová J, Kanovský M. Emotion-focused training for emotion coaching – an intervention to reduce self-criticism. Hum Aff. 2019;29(1):20-31. [DOI]
27. Nooryan Kh, Gasparyan Kh, Sharif F, Zoladl M, Moghimi M, Hosseini NA. The Effects of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Items Education on Job Related Stress in Physicians and Nurses who Work in Intensive Care Units. Armaghane-e-Danesh. 2011;16(5):472-9. [URL]
28. Vahidi Sabzevar A, Koushan M, Khosrorad R, Tabarraie Y, Shegerf Nakhaee M. The impact of emotional intelligence training on reducing anxiety of practitioner nurses in Sabzevar. J Sabzevar Univ Med Sci. 2015;22(5):805-14. [URL]
29. Ghorbanshiroodi Sh, Rangrazian F. The Effect of Training Emotional Intelligence on Public Health of Nurses Working in Hospitalization Wards of Shafa Hospital of Rasht City. Res Med Educ. 2013;5(2):1-7. [DOI]
30. Akhoond Lotfali P, Hosseini MA, Khankeh HR, Fallahi Khoshknab.M F, Hosseinzadeh S. The effect of emotional intelligence education on job conflict in nurses. J Health Promot Manag. 2012;1(1):7-16. [URL]
31. Shahid R, Stirling J, Adams W. Promoting wellness and stress management in residents through emotional intelligence training. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2018;9:681-6. [DOI] [PMID] [PMCID]
32. Meng L, Qi J. The Effect of an Emotional Intelligence Intervention on Reducing Stress and Improving Communication Skills of Nursing Students. Neuroquantology. 2018;16(1):37-42. [DOI]
33. Castillo R, Salguero JM, Fernandez-Berrocal P, Balluerka N. Effects of an emotional intelligence intervention on aggression and empathy among adolescents. J Adolesc. 2013;36(5):883-92. [DOI] [PMID]
34. Esmaeili M, Ahadi H, Delavare A, Shafi-abadi A. Effect of Emotional Intelligence Factors Training on Enhancing Mental Health. Iran J Psychiatry Clin Psychol. 2007;13(2):158-65. [URL]
35. Jung YH, Ha TM, Oh CY, Lee US, Jang JH, Kim J, et al. The Effects of an Online Mind-Body Training Program on Stress, Coping Strategies, Emotional Intelligence, Resilience and Psychological State. PLoS One. 2016;11(8):e0159841. [DOI] [PMID] [PMCID]
36. Benzo RP, Anderson PM, Bronars C, Clark M. Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers: The Role of Non-Reactivity in Reducing Stress. Explore (NY). 2018;14(6):453-6. [DOI] [PMID] [PMCID]
37. Yilmaz FGK, Yilmaz R, Erdogdu F. The Relationship Between Nomophobia, Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Problem‑Solving, Perceived Stress, and Self‑esteem among Undergraduate Students. J Technol Behav Sci. 2022;8:27-53. [DOI]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. |
