Longitudinal predictive validity of emotional intelligence on first year medical students perceived stress

Background: Emotional intelligence has been shown to affect academic performance and perceived stress. But conflicting reports suggest that the relationship between academic performance and emotional intelligence may not be straightforward. Hence, this study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence, perceived stress and academic performance. Methods: First year medical students were invited to participate in this longitudinal study. At Time 1, before mid-semester examinations, they completed the questionnaires on Schutte's Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (n = 213). At Time 2, before pre university examinations, students again completed perceived stress scale questionnaire. (n = 138). Academic performance was reported using summative assessment at both T1 and T2. The relationship between academic performance, emotional intelligence and perceived stress was explored using regression analysis. Results: Neither PSS nor SEIS were related to academic performance. However, perceived stress was significantly predicted by SEIS both at T1 (r = 0.333, beta = 0.149, p < 0.001) as well as T2 (r = 0.240, beta = 0.116, p = 0.028). The results were cross-validated at student level both at T1 and at T2. Conclusion: Medical students with higher trait emotional intelligence perceived lesser stress. Therefore, it might be prudent to train medical students to increase their emotional intelligence to promote their well-being.