Emotional Intelligence and Burnout among Medical Students at a Public Saudi University

Abstract

Background: Medical students’ mental health is a significant problem, as research has shown that their mental health was comparable to, if not better than, the general population before attending medical school. The study aimed to examine emotional intelligence and burnout and their associated factors and identify their predictors among medical students at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). Methods: A cross-sectional study targeted medical students at the college of medicine of IMSIU. The invited students were requested to respond to the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) and TEI Que-SF questionnaires. Sociodemographic and personal life data were also evaluated. Results: Out of the 350 invited medical students, 280 (80%) completed the study questionnaires. More than half (53.2 %) were females, while 66.8 % were aged between 21 and 23. Generally, the mean score of the four scales of the tool were 4.56 (Out of 6), 4.31 (Out of 6), 4.72 (Out of 8), and 4.62 (Out of 6), where higher scores mean better emotional intelligence. According to the results of the MBI-SS tool, 19.3 % of the students had a high-level burnout considering the exhaustion subscale, 76.4 % in the depersonalization subscale, and 77.5 % in the personal achievement subscale. Emotional intelligence is negatively correlated with exhaustion and depersonalization burnout and positively related with personal achievement burnout. Conclusion: A significant correlation was found between medical students’ emotional intelligence with burnout components, positively with academic achievement, and negatively with exhaustion and depersonalization burnout. Improving the student’s ability to deal successfully with different situations (increasing emotional intelligence) is associated with a lower level of burnout and better academic achievement. Keywords: medical students, emotional intelligence, burnout, Saudi Arabia