The Association between Emotional Intelligence and Sleep Quality Components in University Students

Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive emotions in oneself and others. Studies indicate that there might be a relationship between emotional intelligence and sleep. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between emotional intelligence with components of students' sleep quality.

In this cross-sectional study, 377 students affiliated to Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, Iran, were selected and evaluated by two questionnaires of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) after obtaining participants’ consent.

The prevalence of poor sleep was nearly 61% in students. The highest level of correlation was observed after total sleep quality, with sleep disturbances and subjective sleep quality, respectively. The lowest level of non-significant correla-tion was observed with sleep duration (P > 0.05). Regulation, appraisal, and utilization of emotions were the most empow-erment strategies in emotional intelligence among students.

The optimal sleep quality can be related to higher emotional intelligence. Amongst the two sleep quality components, the total sleep quality had a stronger relationship with emotional intelligence. It may be inferred that to increase student productivity, emotion-focused psychological interventions should focus on utilization, appraisal, and regulation of emotions.