Death Attitudes and Emotional Intelligence in Nursing Students

Abstract

The aims of this study were to analyze the relationships between death attitudes and perceived emotional intelligence in a sample of nursing students, and to determine whether there are differences between different academic years with regard to both emotional intelligence and death attitudes. The participants were 243 nursing students. They all responded voluntarily and anonymously to a questionnaire that assessed the following constructs: Fear of death, Death anxiety, Death depression, Death obsession, and Emotional intelligence (Attention, Clarity, and Mood Repair). Students' scores on Fear of Death of Others subscale ( p < .05) decreased significantly across the 3 years of the nursing degree program and increased significantly on emotional Clarity ( p < .05), a dimension of emotional intelligence. The multiple linear regression analyses confirmed the predictive value of Attention, Clarity, and Mood Repair regarding levels of Fear of Death of Others. The importance of including emotional skills training and death-education programs as part of professional nursing curricula are discussed.