The Relevance of Emotional Intelligence in Personnel Selection for High Emotional Labor Jobs

Intranasal Oxytocin in Pediatric Populations: Exploring the Potential for Reducing Irritability and Modulating Neural Responses: A Mini Review

Endogenous neuropeptide Oxytocin (OXT) plays a crucial role in modulating pro-social behavior and the neural response to social/emotional stimuli. Intranasal administration is the most common method of delivering OXT. Intranasal OXT has been implemented in clinical studies of various psychiatric disorders with mixed results, mainly related to lack of solid pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics model. Due to intranasal OXT's mechanism of reducing the activation of neural areas implicated in emotional responding and emotion regulation, a psychopathology with this target mechanism could be potentially excellent candidate for future clinical trial. In this regard, irritability in youth may be a very promising target for clinical studies of intranasal OXT. Here we provide a mini-review of fifteen randomized controlled trials in pediatric patients with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), or Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS). Most studies had small sample sizes and varying dosages, with changes in irritability, mainly as adverse events (AEs). Neuroimaging results showed modulation of the reward processing system and the neural areas implicated in social-emotional information processing by intranasal OXT administration. Further research is needed to determine the most effective dose and duration of OXT treatment, carefully select target psychopathologies, verify target engagement, and measure adverse event profiles.

Mental Health of Flying Cabin Crews: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: Initially, we analyzed relations between the challenging working conditions of flight attendants with symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. As the COVID-19 pandemic plunged airlines into an unprecedented crisis, its impact on the mental health of flying cabin crews became the focus of a second survey. Methods: Flight attendants were surveyed online with DASS-21 in May 2019 (N = 105; sample 1) and April 2020 (N = 1119; sample 2), complemented with questions about working conditions (in 2019) and existential fears and fear of job loss (in 2020). Results: Sample 1 revealed that symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress highly correlated with the subjective assessment of working conditions, but not with objectifiable parameters. Sample 2 showed significant positive correlations between existential fears and fear of job loss with depression, anxiety and stress. Crew members, grounded in April 2020, showed significantly higher scores in depression and stress, while still flying individuals had more clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety. Mean value comparisons between sample 1 and 2 in DASS-21 revealed a significant increase in symptoms at the time of crisis with effect sizes of d = 0.63 for depression, d = 0.26 for anxiety, and d = 0.52 for stress. The incidence of clinically relevant symptoms among the respondents increased from 8 to 23% (depression), from 6 to 14% (anxiety), and from 8 to 24% (stress). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated work restrictions coincide with severe impairment of mental health of flying cabin crews, consistent with a mental health protecting function of labor.

Emotional Intelligence and Self-Efficacy among deputy's administrative staff of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

INTRODUCTION

Emotional intelligence (EI) and self-efficacy are important factors that lead to success in work, life, and education. Various studies assessed the relationship between EI and well-being, performance, and self-efficacy in educational levels, but this topic has been rarely assessed in the occupational and administrative environments. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between EI and self-efficacy among administrative staffs of Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

METHODS

The study employed a descriptive-correlational design and was conducted in six deputies supervised by the Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2019, and 275 participants were selected using a census method. The research data were collected using the Goleman's EI framework with a reliability coefficient of α = 0.87 and Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale with a reliability coefficient of α = 0.78. Data analysis was performed through Kolmogorov-Smirnov, analysis of variance, Tukey, and Pearson's correlation coefficient techniques at P < 0.05 significance level.

RESULTS

The mean score of EI was 98.8 ± 11.1 and the mean score of self-efficacy was 60 ± 7.17. There was a significant positive relationship between the scores of EI and self-efficacy. In addition, the findings indicated a positive significant correlation between self-efficacy with self-awareness, self-regulation, and social skills.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the current study confirm that EI has positive relationships with administrative personnel's self-efficacy. Therefore, implications of the findings can help in the selection, training, counseling, and retention of administrative personnel to the improvement of medical sciences universities' occupational performance.

Relationship between Ability-Based Emotional Intelligence, Cognitive Intelligence, and Job Performance

Based on previous findings, which found that the three facets of ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) have varying effects on job performance, this study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence (CI), and job performance. The use of a cascade model suggests a progressive pattern, starting from emotion perception, followed by emotional understanding and emotion regulation, with downstream effects on job performance. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of both measurements, we employed the performance-based ability measurement, the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the self-reporting ability EI measurement, Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS). Our findings supported the cascade model, but in the case of WLEIS measures, both self-emotion appraisal and others’ emotion appraisal precede emotion regulation, leading to a positive effect on job performance. Moreover, CI moderated the relationship between EI and job performance, such that a decline in CI rendered the relationship more positive. The MSCEIT and WLEIS showed similar results, thus supporting the cascading model and moderating effects.

Testing the generalized validity of the Emotion Knowledge test scores

Differential item functioning (DIF) is of the utmost importance in order to corroborate the generalized validity of test scores in different groups. DIF indicates that an item does not function equally in different groups such as age, gender or cultural ones. Our objective was to contrast the generalized validity of the Emotion Knowledge (EK) test scores in a heterogeneous Argentinian sample composed of 100 females and 100 males (age range: 18–65). Data from the original validation sample (200 Spanish participants, half of them males) were conjointly analyzed (total n = 400). Results of the Rasch Model (RM) analysis indicated that both fit to the RM and reliability (ISR = .97, PSR = .80) were adequate. Item logit measures ranged from -3.89 to 3.68, and person logit measures ranged from -1.12 to 5.09, with a mean value of 2.36. DIF was tested for gender, age, educational level and country, with a few item contrasts found to be statistically significant. Even though small significant differences in EK scores were associated with educational level (d = .25) and country (d = -.25), they became non-significant after removing the seven country-related DIF affected items. We can conclude that there is enough evidence for the generalized validity of EK test scores in Argentina. Given that recent theories of human emotion consider conceptual knowledge supported by language as constitutive of emotions, the EK test can be used in academic or applied settings where individual differences in emotional competence might be relevant.