Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress among Dental Undergraduates in Delhi

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence (EI) is understanding one's own feeling and able to handle those feelings without disturbing themselves. Medical schools are stressful and the ability to manage stress is a major factor of success for these students. The current study contributes further insight to body of research in EI as it relates to students’ stress in education, especially among dental undergraduates of Delhi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, convenient sampling-based survey was conducted among 323 dental undergraduates from all the 3 dental Institutions across Delhi. The Schutte Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress scale instruments were administered to all the students of four professional years. The data analysis was done using SPSS V.17 and various statistical tests were used to determine significant difference. RESULTS: No significant differences were found among gender as well as among professional groups for EI. There was a significant difference (0.008) among gender with respect to perceived stress. Correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship between EI and PS (r = −0.227) which was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Training in dental education could be quite stressful due to their time-bound work, but regular student performance assessment and associated factors would allow understanding student behavior in handling situations. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Yadav V, Mohanty V, Balappanavar AY, et al. Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress among Dental Undergraduates in Delhi. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(4):344–347.