Unlocking resilience: emotional intelligence and self-leadership shape stress perception among health students

Academic expectations, interpersonal issues, and patient care can stress students. If unaddressed, these pressures can affect kids' learning, performance, and well-being. Still, emotional intelligence and self-leadership will help health sciences students manage stress and perform better in any subject. This study examined how emotional intelligence, self-leadership, and stress affected health sciences students. A cross-sectional descriptive study examined 411 undergraduate students from Istanbul Gelisim University, categorised by year of study (first, second, third, and fourth). The survey included 305 females and 106 males. Data were collected using demographics, SSEIT, ASLQ, and PSS-10 scales; 96.5% responded. Higher emotional intelligence, constructive cognition, task drive, and behaviour awareness predict lower reported stress. A negative and significant relationship between felt stress and emotional intelligence, constructive cognition, task motivation, behaviour awareness, and self-leadership. The authors suggest including self-leadership, emotional intelligence, stress management seminars, and positive reframing in the curriculum to help students develop emotional regulation, constructive thinking, and resilience.