The effect of teaching emotional intelligence skills on response to educational stress in high school girls

Background: Stress is one of the major causes of physical and mental illnesses, which could interfere with individual's functions. Emotional intelligence skill is one of the controlling skills of stress and its negative consequences. Aim: To investigate the effect of teaching emotional intelligence skills on response to educational stress in high school girls. Methods: This experimental study was performed on 100 students of Mashhad high schools, who were randomly assigned in two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a six-session teaching program on emotional intelligence, while control group received no intervention. Gadzella Student-Life Stress Inventory was used as a study tool. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 11.5 using independent t-test and paired t-test. Results: Both groups experienced changes in physiological  response to stress as the mean score of stress decreased in experimental group and increased in control group (P