The effect of work / family conflicts of healthcare staff on mental health:The mediating role of emotional intelligence

In this study, the effect of the individual's work / family conflicts on mental health and the mediating role of emotional intelligence on this effect are studied. Business and family life are two important living spaces that directly affect the individual's life. The need for work and family life, and individual's not having enough time, energy and resources cause the individual to have a work / family conflict. Especially with the changing social structure, more women's taking place in working life and increasing expectations from workers in business life make work / family conflicts inevitable. The research assessed the relationships and effects between work/family conflict, emotional intelligence, mental health, and the mediating role of emotional intelligence. The research was carried out in more than one health institution in Ankara. The data obtained by asking the questions about the demographic characteristics, work / family conflicts, mental health and emotional intelligence of the health personnel were subjected to regression, correlation, t test, anova and mediation analyses with statistical package program. Accordingly, there was a negative correlation between work / family conflicts and mental health. It has been observed that work / family conflicts affect the individual's mental health negatively. It was understood that emotional intelligence has a full mediating role between variables. As a result of research, it was understood that emotional intelligence is an important tool for reducing or eliminating the negative effects of work / family conflicts.