Investigating the Relationship Between Spiritual Health and Emotional Intelligence With Attitude Toward Smoking Among Nursing Students

Young individuals, such as students, are threatened by the use of tobacco products. Emotional intelligence and religiosity are protective factors against risky behaviors, such as smoking. This study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and spiritual health on nursing students’ attitudes toward smoking.

This correlational-descriptive study was conducted for three months with the available sampling method on all qualified undergraduate nursing students in 2022. A total of 283 nursing students willing to participate in the study completed the questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression in the SPSS software, version 21.

The Mean±SD age of the students was 22.74±3.26 years. There was a positive and significant relationship between spiritual well-being and attitude toward smoking (r=0.35, P<0.001) and also between emotional intelligence and attitude toward smoking (r=0.26, P<0.001). The data from multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that among the demographic information (spiritual well-being and emotional intelligence), spiritual well-being contributed more to explaining the attitude toward smoking (β=0.52, P<0.001).

Based on the results of the present study, the attitude toward tobacco is related to various factors, such as age, history of smoking, having an addicted friend, emotional intelligence, and spiritual well-being. Accordingly, by holding educational workshops, university officials can play an effective role in strengthening and developing the components of spiritual well-being and emotional intelligence to prevent students from smoking.