The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Mental Health of Medicine and Surgery Students in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


Ilu O. C. Adomeh, Phd1 and Arhewoh, Uade Roland2


1Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State

2Institute of Education, Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State


*Corresponding Author

Ilu O. C. Adomeh, PhD

Article History: | Received: 30.06.2022 | Accepted: 24.07.2022 | Published: 25.08.2022|


Abstract: This paper investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and the mental health of medicine and surgery students in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. The correlational design using the survey method was adopted in the study. The population of the work covered all the 1,244 medical undergraduate students in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in the 2018/2019 session. A sample of two hundred students from the Department of Medicine and Surgery was drawn from the population. The purposive random sampling technique was used to draw 100 male and 100 female students in the Department.Two instruments were used for the collection of data. The test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The Pearson product moment correlation analysis was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The levels of emotional intelligence and mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma were low ( of 2.45 and 2.46 ≤ 2.50). The result showed that there is a relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students (male and female) of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. It was recommended thatbalanced combination of emotional and cognitive mind training among undergraduates should be encouraged by the University Management and educators to facilitate the early identification, recognition and development of learners’ emotional skills which in turn could help promote their mental health.


Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Mental Health, Students.

Copyright @ 2022: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and source are credited.


Introduction:

Emotional intelligence (EI) is one’s tendency to distinguish, evaluate and handle emotional status of his own and others’ to attain certain objectives. Choudary (2010) referred to EI as the designated ability to make use of the emotional condition of an individual, group or own-self to attain a certain goal or a set of goals or objectives (confer also Fox & Spector, 2000). This concept could be reflected upon as the ability to appreciate the emotions and categorize their possible outcomes and finally through this knowledge attain expected goals (Choudary, 2010).


Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2002) identified a set of competencies that differentiate children with emotional intelligence. The competencies fall into four clusters such as self-awareness (understanding of own emotions, powers, weaknesses, needs and awareness of self-existence), self-management (managing own emotional behavior), social awareness (ability to understand emotions and needs of others and thus putting oneself into others’ shoes) and relationship management (ability to establish relationships with other individuals and to ensure sustainability of such relationships, creating and managing a team). According to them, the set of competencies that differentiate children with emotional intelligence could be influenced by personal characteristics such as gender and age of learners.


Discussing the dimensions and levels of emotional intelligence, Goleman, et al (2002) submitted that there are varying levels of emotional intelligence associated with set of competencies that differentiate children with emotional intelligence. They argued from two extreme points that complete absence or possession of the four competencies is rare. Hence, while some students may demonstrate the high possession of one or more competencies, some learners might exhibit low levels of others; resulting in lower performance. This explains why a student - a university undergraduate, for instance, may be high in self-awareness and low in self-management, while another could exhibit high level of relationship management but be relatively low in one or more other competencies - self-awareness, self-management and for social awareness.


Mental health is considered to be a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and be able to make meaningful contribution to his or her community (World Health Organization (WHO), 2015). Mullen (2015) opined that mental health is a state of mind in which an individual can effectively utilize his or her capacities by displaying psychological resilience in making personal and social adjustments to fit the dynamic environment within which he or she co-exists with other persons. In other words it represents one’s ability to adapt to internal and external environmental stressors. Such successful adaptation to a range of demands is manifested in thoughts, emotions and behaviours that are in congruence with age, local and cultural norms or expectations (United Nations International Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, 2018). To be mentally unhealthy therefore signifies a psychological state that results in behavioural anomalies that affect daily functioning. Mental health problems may be associated with genetics, environ-mental stressors, psychological factors, brain defects, substance abuse, amongst other factors (Schmidt, 2017).


The implication of this is that mental health, just like physical health, is an issue that has the potential to affect anyone, male or female, young or old, rich or poor. It is indeed everyone’s business. This fact validates mental health as a complex, yet current and important issue for human resource managers and the workplace in its entirety. This is because organizations do not exist in a vacuum; employees are not recruited from outer space, but from the environment within which organizations exist. Hence, the indices of mental health pertaining to Nigeria, should be of concern to Nigerian workplaces.


Several studies on the emotional intelligence and mental health have been carried out in literature.Casey (2016) for instanceinvestigated the correlation between emotional intelligence and mental health of undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria. The survey design was adopted to sample one hundred and fifty two (152) final year undergraduates of a university in South-West, Nigeria. The regression analytic tool was deployed to analyze data. The results show a correlation between emotional intelligence and academic performance; affirming that emotional intelligence predicts mental health.


Yasir, Kashif, Zark, Khalid, Abdul, Waseem and Ahmad (2016)identified the impact of emotional intelligence on mental health among secondary school students at UluBaram, Sarawak in Indonesia. A correlational research design was used in the study. Four secondary schools at Ulu Baram were chosen for the study. Stratified sampling technique was used in the study. The sample size for this study was 322 from a population of 1979. The result shows that emotional intelligence is crucial in producing good quality secondary students, since it is established as a key predictor variable in the success of students’ academic achievement and in their life.


Upadhyaya (2013) explored the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health of student-teachers in Allahabad, India. Sample for the study comprised of 97 B. Ed. students of Allahabad City .The Test of Emotional Intelligence of K.S. Misra was used to assess the emotional intelligence of student-teachers and the marks obtained by the student-teachers in theory and practical examination served as index of mental health. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation. Product Moment Coefficients of Correlation and t-ratio were used for the analysis of the data. The findings of the study revealed that emotional intelligence is positively related to mental health.


Fariselli, Ghini, Freedman (2016)investigated the relationships between emotional intelligence and achievement among 151 undergraduate psychology students at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Barbados, making use of Barchard (2001)’s Emotional Intelligence Scale and an Academic Achievement Scale. Findings revealed significant positive correlations between academic achievement and six of the emotional intelligence components, and a negative correlation with negative expressivity. The emotional intelligence components also jointly contributed 48% of the variance in academic achievement. Attending to emotions was the best predictor of academic achievement while positive expressivity, negative expressivity and empathic concern were other significant predictors. Emotion-based decision-making, responsive joy and responsive distress did not make any significant relative contribution to academic achievement, indicating that well-being and achievement is only partially predicted by emotional intelligence.


Prieto, Ferrandiz, Ferrando, Sainz, Bermejo and Hernandez (2018) investigated the effects of Circadian Typology, Emotional Intelligence and Creativity on the achievement of 300 Senior Secondary School III Students in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. The participants responded to three valid scales. A correspondence of the participants’ academic achievement was retrieved from their schools. Using Pearson Product Correlation and Multiple Regression procedures to investigate the predictive capacity of the independent variables on the dependent variables, the result indicated that the three independent variables, when taken together were effective in predicting academic achievement. However while circadian typology had no significant contributive effect, other variables contributed significantly to mental wellbeing and achievement.


Mojoyinola (2018) investigated the effects of job stress on the physical health, mental health personal and work behaviours of nurses in public hospitals in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. The study was carried out among 153 nurses working in two public hospitals in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Expost-facto research design was adopted for the study. A single questionnaire tagged “Stress Assessment Questionnaire for Hospital Nurses (SAQFHN) was developed and used for the study. It contains 72 items, measuring demographic variables, job stress, physical and mental symptoms, personal and work behaviour. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study, using analysis of variance and independent t-test. The study established that job stress has significant effect on physical and mental health of the nurses. It also established that there was a significant relationship between emotional balance and mental health.


Saka, Odunjo-Saka and Oladejo (2018) assessed the influence of perceived occupational stress on psychological wellbeing of road safety personnel in OsunState. This was with a view to understanding the extent to which perceived occupational stress could contribute to the psychological wellbeing of road safety personnel in OsunState. Primary data were used for the study. The data were collected among federal road safety corps in Osun State. The sample consisted of 268 personnel drawn from all the seven commands in the state using proportionate sampling technique. Two standardized psychological instruments, namely: Job Stress Scale (JSS) by Theorell and psychological wellbeing scale by Ryff were used to collect data from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using multiple linear regression and t-test independent sample. The results showed that job stress and emotional intelligence had a statistically significant influence on the mental health of road safety personnel in Osun State.


Ignatius and Onwunaka (2015) determined the level of stress and emotional wellbeing experienced by secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey design using a sample of 660 (male 259, female 401) teachers randomly drawn from 33 secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The secondary schools were selected from two zones (Abakaliki and Afikpo) out of three education zones in Ebonyi State. In each school 20 teachers were randomly selected using systematic random sampling technique. A self-developed instrument titled: Teacher Stress Questionnaire (TSQ) with a reliability coefficient of r=0.92 was used to collect data for the study. The researchers personally collected the data which were analysed using mean, standard deviation, t-Test, Pearson’s correlation and Stepwise Multiple Regression. The results showed that job stress and emotional wellbeing significantly influences mental health of secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State. From the foregoing, it is necessary to carryout studies on emotional intelligence and mental health of students in Medicine and surgery Department of AAU, Ekpoma in Edo State in order to find out their levels of EI & MH; and do also find out if both variable correlate.


Research Questions

This study was guided by the following research questions:

  1. What is the level of emotional intelligence of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma?

  2. What is the level of mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma?

  3. Is there a relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma?

  4. What is the relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of male medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma?

  5. What is the relationship between the emotional intelligence and mental health of female medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma?



Hypotheses

The hypotheses tested in the study are:

  1. There is no significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of medicine and surgery students in Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma?

  2. There is no significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of male medicine and surgery students in Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma?

  3. There is no significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of female medicine and surgery students in Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma?



Methods

The correlational design using the survey method was adopted in this study. The population of this work covered all the 1,244 medical undergraduate students in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in the 2018/2019 Session. A sample of two hundred students from the Department of Medicine and Surgery was drawn from the population. The purposive random sampling technique was used to draw 100 male and 100 female students in the department.

The instrument used for data collection was divided into sections A, B and C. Section A requestedinformation on the students’ sex (male or female). Section B is a questionnaire which was adapted from the Emotional Development Scale (EDS) developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden & Dornheim (1998) in their work titled “Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence”. The scale contained 33-items developed to measure emotional intelligence of learners. During adaptation, the 33-items rated on a five point scale ranging from Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1) with a neutral stem of neither disagree nor agree (3) was modified to a four point likert scale. The modification was arrived at by removing the neutral stem (neither disagree nor agree -3). Hence, all the items were rated on a four point likert scale of Strongly Agreed (SA) -4, Agreed (A) -3, Disagreed (D) -2 and Strongly Disagreed (SD) -1. Students were all expected to choose one of the options that best applies to them on each of the items in the questionnaire.


Section C of the instrument was a questionnaire adapted from the Mental Health Scale (MHS) developed by Harden & Haya (2001). The scale contained 15-items developed to measures mental health of learners. The items were rated on a four point likert scale of Strongly Agreed (SA) -4, Agreed (A) -3, Disagreed (D) -2 and Strongly Disagreed (SD) -1. Students were all expected to choose one of the options that best applies to them on each of the items in the questionnaire.


The test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The result of the coefficient yielded an r-value of 0.79 which shows that the instrument is reliable. The Pearson product moment correlation analysis was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS® 20) was used to answer the research questions.


Results

The results of this study are presented in line with the research questions and test of hypotheses. The two research questions are answered below and they are immediately followed by the test of three hypotheses.

Research Question 1: What is the level of emotional intelligence of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma?


Table 1: Mean and Standard deviation of Emotional Intelligence of Medicine and Surgery Students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


S/n


Items


N = 352

SD

Remarks

1

I know when to speak about my personal problems to others.

2.57*

0.901

Agreed

2

When I am faced with obstacles, I remember times I faced similar obstacles and overcame them.

2.55*

0.807

Agreed

3

I expect that I will do well on most things I try.

2.52*

0.847

Agreed

4

Other people find it easy to confide in me.

2.42

0.835

Disagreed

5

I find it hard to understand the nonverbal messages of other people.

2.31

0.932

Disagreed

6

Some of the major events of my life have led me to re-evaluate what is important and not important.

2.19

1.174

Disagreed

7

When my mood changes, I see new possibilities.

2.24

0.804

Disagreed

8

Emotions are some of the things that make my life worth living.

2.25

0.960

Disagreed

9

I am aware of my emotions as I experience them.

2.57*

0.969

Agreed

10

I expect good things to happen.

2.36

1.024

Disagreed

11

I like to share my emotions with others.

2.18

0.964

Disagreed

12

When I experience a positive emotion, I know how to make it last.

2.41

0.980

Disagreed

13

I arrange events others enjoy.

2.26

0.949

Disagreed

14

I seek out activities that make me happy.

2.56*

0.918

Agreed

15

I am aware of the nonverbal messages I send to others.

2.58*

0.948

Agreed

16

I present myself in a way that makes a good impression on others.

2.29

0.902

Disagreed

17

When I am in a positive mood, solving problems is easy for me.

2.72*

0.916

Agreed

18

By looking at their facial expressions, I recognize the emotions people are experiencing.

2.52*

0.948

Agreed

19

I know why my emotions change.

2.43

0.903

Disagreed

20

When I am in a positive mood, I am able to come up with new ideas.

2.68*

0.990

Agreed

21

I have control over my emotions.

2.68*

0.910

Agreed

22

I easily recognize my emotions as I experience them.

2.66*

0.807

Agreed

23

I motivate myself by imagining a good outcome to tasks I take on.

2.51*

0.847

Agreed

24

I compliment others when they have done something well.

2.18

0.812

Disagreed

25

I am aware of the nonverbal messages other people send.

2.52*

0.806

Agreed

26

When another person tells me about an important event in his or her life, I almost feel as though I have experienced this event myself.

2.42

0.807

Disagreed

27

When I feel a change in emotions, I tend to come up with new ideas.

2.36

0.761

Disagreed

28

When I am faced with a challenge, I give up because I believe I will fail.

2.52*

0.931

Agreed

29

I know what other people are feeling just by looking at them.

2.59*

0.913

Agreed

30

I help other people feel better when they are down.

2.46

0.953

Disagreed

31

I use good moods to help myself keep trying in the face of obstacles.

2.25

0.809

Disagreed

32

I can tell how people are feeling by listening to the tone of their voice.

2.56*

0.930

Agreed

33

It is difficult for me to understand why people feel the way they do.

2.10

0.820

Disagreed


Overall mean ( ) = 2.46




* Significant mean ( ≥ 2.50)



Result in Table 1 shows that majority of the students agreed on items 1, 2, 3, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29 and 32 at a mean score range of 2.50 to 2.72 and disagreed with items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 and 33 at a mean score ranging from 2.26 to 2.46. The overall mean score of 2.46 is less than the criterion mean of 2.50 (i.e = 2.45 < 2.50). Hence, this implies that the level of emotional intelligence of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma is low.


Research Question 2: What is the level of mental health of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma?


Table 2: Mean and Standard deviation of Mental Health of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


S/n


Items


N = 352

SD

Remarks

1

My life is on the right track

2.65*

.902

Agreed

2

I have been left alone when I don’t want to be.

2.51*

.807

Agreed

3

I feel I can do whatever I want to.

2.55*

.847

Agreed

4

I have been thinking clearly and creatively like a failure.

2.43

.859

Disagreed

5

Nothing seems very much fun anymore.

2.34

.932

Disagreed

6

I like myself.

2.29

1.046

Disagreed

7

I can’t be bothered to do anything.

2.34

.804

Disagreed

8

Close to people around me.

2.45

.960

Disagreed

9

As though the best years of my life are over.

2.55*

.969

Agreed

10

My future looks good.

2.39

1.024

Disagreed

11

I have lost interest in other people and don’t care about them.

2.28

.964

Disagreed

12

I have energy to spare.

2.41

.980

Disagreed

13

I smile and laugh a lot.

2.26

.949

Disagreed

14

I wish I could change some part of my life.

2.51*

.918

Agreed


Overall mean ( ) = 2.46




* Significant mean ( ≥ 2.50)


Result in Table 1 shows that majority of the students agreed on items 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10 at a mean score range of 2.51 to 2.65 and disagreed with item 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 at a mean score ranging from 2.26 to 2.43. The overall mean score of 2.46 is less than the criterion mean of 2.50 (i.e. = 2.45 < 2.50). Hence, this implies that the level of mental health of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma is low.


Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


Table 3: Relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

Variable

N

S.D

r-cal.

p-value

Remark

Emotional Intelligence

200

2.46

.942

0.183**

0.001

Reject null hypothesis (p<0.05)

Mental health


2.57

.919




**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).


Result in Table 3 showed that the Mean ( and Standard Deviation (SD) scores of the respondents (N=200) were 2.54 and 0.942 for emotional intelligence and 2.57 and 0.919 for mental health respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.183 was statistically significant (p<0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternate hypothesis was accepted. This indicated that there is a relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and male Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


Table 4: Relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health of male Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

Variable

N

S.D

r-cal.

p-value

Remark

Emotional Intelligence (male students)



100

2.48

.883



0.270**



0.003


Reject null hypothesis (p<0.05)

Mental Health (male students)


2.54

.801




**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).


Result in Table 4 showed that the mean ( and Standard Deviation (SD) scores of the respondents (N=200) were 2.48 and 0.883 for emotional intelligence and 2.54 and 0.801 for mental health (male students) respectively while the Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.270 was statistically significant (p<0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternate hypothesis was accepted. This indicated that there is a relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of male Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.


Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of female Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma


Table 5: Relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health of female Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

Variable

N

S.D

r-cal.

p-value

Remark

Emotional intelligence (female students)



100

2.37

0.705



0.145**



0.002


Reject null hypothesis (p<0.05)

Mental health (female students)


2.58

0.919




**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).


Result in Table 5 showed that the Mean ( and Standard Deviation (SD) scores of the respondents (N=100) were 2.37and 0.705for emotional intelligence and 2.58and 0.919 for mental health (female students). The Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.145 was statistically significant (p<0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternate hypothesis was accepted. This indicated that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and the mental health of female Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.


Discussion

The finding of this study reveals that the level of emotional intelligence of medicine and surgery students of Ambrose Alli University is low. The implication is that their approach to their course of study might be negatively affected, with its consequent emotional stress. The finding of this study is in line with the discourse on the dimensions and levels of emotional intelligence of students by Goleman, et al (2002) who concluded that there are differential levels of emotional intelligence as possessed by the students. Having identified four of such levels that give rise to four cluster of competences, namely, self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship managements, they affirmed that complete absent or full possession of the four is rare. In other words why some students might be high in some competencie3s and low in others and vice visa, the totality might yield either high, average or better still low level of emotional intelligence. In the case of students of medicine and surgery Department of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma their level of emotional intelligence falls into the third category.

The finding of the study indicated that the mental health of the subjects of the study is equally low. When students’ level of task competences is low or just on the average in a very competitive course like medicine and surgery in AAUE, his or her mental health will equally be seriously challenged. This could explain why the result of this study indicates low mental health of the students. This result is in line with that of Yasir et al (2016) that the emotional intelligence of students impacts on their mental health. Also, the result of the present study does not deviate from that of Upadhyaya (2013) who found a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and mental health of student-teachers, so since emotional intelligence the subjects of the present study is low their mental health must necessary be low. Similarly, the result of the present study supports that of Ignatius & Onwumaka (2015) that found that emotional wellbeing significantly influences the mental health of students in Ebonyi State Nigeria.


The result from the study shows that there the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma are related. The result would not have been otherwise since the emotional intelligence and mental health of the students are both low. The result agrees with that of Casey (2016) who noted that a correlation between emotional intelligence and academic performance; affirming that emotional intelligence predicts mental health. The result is in line with that of Yasir, et al (2016) who found that emotional intelligence is established as a key predictor variable in the success of students’ academic achievement and life. The result is in consonance with that of Upadhyaya (2013) who opined that emotional intelligence is positively related to mental health.


The result from the study shows that there is a rapport between the emotional intelligence and the mental health of Medicine and Surgery male students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. This finding is expected because the male students in the Department of Medicine and Surgery are part of the general students in the department whose emotional intelligence and mental health are strongly related. The result agrees with that of Fayombo (2012) who revealed that a significant relative contribution to academic achievement, indicating that well-being and achievement is only partially predicted by emotional intelligence. The result corroborates that of Prieto, et al (2008) who noted that had no significant contributive effect, other variables contributed significantly to mental wellbeing and achievement.


The result from the study shows that there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and female mental health of female Medicine and Surgery students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. This specific finding should be viewed against the back drop of the general rapport of emotional intelligence and mental health of the subjects under study. Once this is done and so understood the result becomes quit explicit. The result is in line with that of Mojoyinola (2018) who opined that here was a significant relationship between emotional balance and mental health. The result is in line with that of Saka, et al (2018) who noted that job stress and emotional intelligence had a statistically significant influence on the mental health of road safety personnel in Osun State. The result corroborates that of Ignatius and Onwunaka (2015) who found that job stress and emotional wellbeing significantly influences mental health of secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State.


Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that a good number of the Medicine and Surgery students (both males and females) of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma are not emotionally and mentally stable to undergo the programme intellectually and health wise.


Recommendations

The following recommendations are made on the study:

  1. Balanced combination of emotional and cognitive mind training among undergraduates should be encouraged by the University Management and educators to facilitate the identification, recognition and development of learners’ emotional skills which in turn could help promote their mental health.

  2. Curriculum experts should develop an affective instructional curriculum that incorporates emotional intelligence skills with the objective of enhancing personal and mental wellbeing of medicine and surgery students.

  3. Students who are studying medicine and surgery should be encouraged to avail themselves of the services of Guidance and Counsellors in the University Counselling Centre in order to boost their emotional intelligence and mental health.


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