The Effect of Spiritual Intelligence on Mental Health: A Study on Female Nurses in Mazandaran's Hospitals

Due to the special circumstances of the hospital environment and the constant communication of nurses with patients, the mental health of nurses, especially female nurses, has a deterrent role in the occurrence of dysfunctional behaviors. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence (SQ) and mental health of female nurses in Mazandaran's hospitals, examining the correlation between these two variables, and showing its effects on balancing some adversities and stressful behaviors. The research approach is descriptive and correlational and is conducted by field method using standard questionnaires of King and Dico spiritual intelligence and Goldberg and Hiller mental health questionnaire with a sample size of 250 people through available sampling. The collected data are analyzed by mean tests and structural equation modeling, using SPSS and LISREL software. In this study, spiritual intelligence is used as an independent variable with four indicators of critical thinking, meaning production, awareness, and development of consciousness and mental health is used as a dependent variable with four indicators of physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms, social functioning, and depressive symptoms. Research findings show a positive correlation between spiritual intelligence and mental health of nurses.