the effect of spiritual intelligence on occupational stress among medical interns during covid-19 pandemic: a structural equation model

Background: many medical students experience heavy occupational stress during their long education period. occupational stress can be affected by several factors, including spiritual intelligence. objectives: this study aimed to determine the level of occupational stress in medical interns during the covid-19 pandemic and the effect of spiritual intelligence. methods: this cross-sectional study was performed on 209 medical interns at shahid beheshti university of medical sciences (tehran, iran) in the autumn of 2020. eligible medical students answered two online questionnaires: the opisow occupational stress questionnaire and the king spiritual intelligence questionnaire. data were analyzed in spss 16 and eqs6.1 using structural equation modeling. results: the mean occupational stress score and the mean spiritual intelligence score of the participants were 184.57 ± 23.57 and 50.44 ± 13.97, respectively. all the model fitness indices were in the acceptable range (cmin/df = 2.3, rmsea = 0.07, gfi = 0.91, and cfi = 0.93); thus, the proposed model was confirmed. spiritual intelligence was a factor affecting occupational stress (β = -0.45). besides, all of the subscales of spiritual intelligence negatively affected occupational stress with the following effect sizes: transcendent awareness (β = -0.53), critical existential thinking (β = -0.43), production of personal meaning (β = -0.41), and consciousness state expansion (β = -0.27). conclusions: according to the model fitness indices, it can be concluded that the proposed model was acceptable. all subscales of spiritual intelligence had a negative impact on occupational stress.