Emotional intelligence, workplace conflict and job burn-out among critical care physicians: a mediation analysis with a cross-sectional study design in Egypt

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the association between the effect of emotional intelligence on job burn-out and the mediating effect of workplace conflict management among critical care physicians. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study design was deployed. PARTICIPANTS: The studied sample comprised 144 critical care physicians working at two Egyptian tertiary care public hospitals. MEASURES: The participants’ responses to three questionnaires were studied, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and the Conflict Management Formative Questionnaire, in addition to assessing coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) levels. RESULTS: Among the anaesthesiologists and critical care specialists examined, burn-out was reported by 63.9% of them. The findings of this study indicated that emotional intelligence played a notable role in predicting job burn-out, with a negative impact. Further analysis revealed that workplace conflict management acted as a mediator between emotional intelligence and the three components of job burn-out. Additionally, age and years of experience were found to have a negative correlation with burn-out and a positive correlation with conflict management. Furthermore, CoQ10 levels showed a negative correlation with burn-out, while displaying positive correlations with emotional intelligence and conflict management. CONCLUSION: Conflict management acted as a mediator in reducing burn-out by demonstrating a significant negative relationship between emotional intelligence and burn-out. Initial findings indicated that possessing good emotional intelligence and conflict management skills had a positive influence on the immune system, as evidenced by higher CoQ10 levels. However, burn-out had the opposite effect, depleting the body’s CoQ10 stores and negatively impacting immune-protective mechanisms. Therefore, it is crucial to implement emotional management educational programmes and update educational policies and pedagogical practices to enhance the emotional capabilities of healthcare providers, especially in demanding fields like critical care, to effectively address conflicts.