Safeguarding the future nursing workforce: The role of mental health in the relationship between emotional intelligence and  impostor phenomenon among undergraduate nursing students

Safeguarding the future nursing workforce: The role of mental health in the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon among undergraduate nursing students | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Safeguarding the future nursing workforce: The role of mental health in the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon among undergraduate nursing students Mingxia Li, Wenyan Qin, Danyun Peng, Haiying Han, Huifang Luo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8220923/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Nursing students require high emotional intelligence to adapt and communicate effectively in complex clinical environments. Conversely, the impostor phenomenon has been frequently observed in this group and poses a significant threat to their mental health. However, the interplay between emotional intelligence, the impostor phenomenon, and mental health remains unclear, necessitating further investigation to inform supportive strategies. Objectives This study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence, mental health, and impostor phenomenon, and the mediating role of mental health between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon. Design A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used. The STROBE Statement was followed for reporting. Participants The study involved a sample of 317 undergraduate nursing students in China. Methods Data were collected during the 2024-2025 academic year using self-administered questionnaires that assessed demographic characteristics, emotional intelligence, and impostor phenomenon. Results Participants reported moderately high levels of emotional intelligence (80.87 ± 14.37) and impostor phenomenon (58.74 ± 13.53). The detection rate of positive mental health symptoms (21.45%) was slightly lower than the national adult norm. Emotional intelligence was negatively correlated with mental health ( P < 0.01), whereas impostor phenomenon was positively correlated with it ( P < 0.01). Mediation analysis revealed a suppression effect that mental health partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon, with a negative indirect effect but a positive direct effect, resulting in a non-significant total effect. Conclusion This study identifies both a protective pathway (where emotional intelligence reduces impostor phenomenon via mental health) and a potentially risky direct pathway. In practice applications, the focus should be on amplifying the protective pathway while mitigating the risky one to effectively promote individuals' psychological well-being and positive self-concept. Emotional Intelligence Impostor Phenomenon Mental Health Nursing Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 1 Introduction China has raised the bar for nurses due to the country's rapid social development and aging population. The government's strong emphasis on producing high-quality nursing professionals was demonstrated in 2023 when the Ministry of Education designated nursing as a "state-controlled major". Nursing students will have to navigate complex multi-team collaborations and complex nurse-patient relationships in the future. These challenges place higher demands on the clinical adaptability, communication skills, and emotion regulation of nursing students, all of which are closely related to emotional intelligence(EI) [ 1 – 2 ] . Improving the EI of nursing students enhances their clinical adaptation, communication, and emotional management skills, thereby supporting their overall development as competent healthcare professionals. The impostor phenomenon(IP) is positively associated with psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, and burnout [ 3 – 4 ] , which can severely affect the mental health of nursing students. This finding is supported by domestic researchers who have reported poor mental health status among nursing students [ 5 ] . However, few studies have examined the relationship between EI, IP, and the mental health of undergraduate nursing students. Therefore, to understand the situation and correlation of undergraduate nursing students' EI, IP, and mental health, and to explore the specific impact of mental health on the relationship between EI and IP, is conducive to the targeted proposal to effectively improve EI of undergraduate nursing students, reduce their IP, and promote mental health. This research seeks to provide valuable insights for training high-quality nursing talent, improving the stability of the nursing team and promoting the high-quality development of nursing career. 1.1 Theory and hypotheses 1.1.1 Relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon A review of the literature shows that the correlation between EI and IP remains unclear, both domestically and internationally. EI refers to an individual's ability to monitor their own and others' emotions and feelings, and use this awareness to guide their thoughts and behaviors [ 1 ] . IP is defined as the tendency of individuals to attribute success to some external reasons(such as luck, help from others, good social relations, etc.) rather than their own strength after they meet with success [ 6 ] . EI can promote self-efficacy in career decision-making [ 1 ] . Low EI is mainly manifested in weak self-awareness, lack of self-restraint, and lack of self-motivation [ 7 ] , and low EI may be associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. EI is negatively correlated with negative affect and job burnout [ 8 – 9 ] . A high level of IP confidence in work ability contributes to job burnout [ 7 , 10 ] . People with high IP often doubt their abilities, feel anxious, lack confidence, and experience stress [ 4 – 11 ] . Notably, EI and IP exhibit a high degree of similarity in their effects, suggesting a potential connection between the two. Both represent an individual's response to their psychological characteristics and are influenced by their mental health status. Therefore, research on these phenomena can clarify their relationship, provide scientific evidence, and simultaneously draw the attention of scholars and higher education institutions to EI and IP among nursing students. This would enable targeted interventions, offering valuable insights into cultivating high-quality nursing professionals, enhancing the stability of the nursing workforce, and advancing the high-quality development of the nursing profession. 1.1.2 Mediating effects of mental health According to the theory of resource conservation [ 12 ] , EI is an important component of personal resources. EI can help individuals better manage and use their emotions, prevent resource depletion, and maintain good mental health. A study has pointed out that EI positively predicts mental health [ 13 ] . Individuals with impaired mental health, particularly those with chronic depression, frequently develop negative cognitive schemas [ 14 ] . This cognitive pattern leads individuals to focus on and magnify their failures, shortcomings, and inadequacies while overlooking their strengths and achievements. Over time, this severely distorts an individual's self-perception, intensifying tendencies toward IP. This study aimed to determine the relationship between EI and IP among undergraduate nursing students. It further sought to examine the mediating role of mental health in the effect of EI on IP behavior. Based on these questions, the following hypotheses were proposed: the theoretical model is presented in Fig. 1 . Figure 1 The hypothesized model H1: Emotional intelligence significantly predicts impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students H2: Mental health significantly predicts the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students. H3: Emotional intelligence can indirectly predict the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students through the mediating effect of mental health. 2 Methods 2.1 Setup and sample A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese nursing students from September 2024 to August 2025 via an online electronic questionnaire. Using convenience sampling, 337 questionnaires were distributed. After screening out 20 questionnaires with illogical or obviously erroneous responses, 317 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding an effective response rate of 94.07 % . Power analysis was performed using a Monte Carlo simulation [ 15 ] to calculate the sample size. We included full-time undergraduate nursing students in the study. Participants must be enrolled and give knowledgeable consent to join this study. We excluded those with a history of academic suspension or any physical or mental disorders that could affect their participation. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shantou University Medical College (Approval No. SUMC-2024-078). We adhered to the principles of informed consent, voluntary participation, confidentiality, and non-maleficence throughout the study. 2.2 Assessment instruments 2.2.1 Basic information survey The questionnaire was designed by the researchers themselves and included variables such as gender, age, whether the individual has served as a class officer, academic performance, and whether the individual is an only child. 2.2.2 The Chinese version of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) This scale was developed by Chi-Sum Wong and Kenneth S. Law [ 16 ] . The scale comprises 16 items across four dimensions: self-emotion assessment, other-emotion assessment, emotion utilization, and emotion regulation. A 7-point Likert scale was employed, with scores ranging from 1("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"). The total score ranges from 16 to 112, with higher scores indicating greater EI. The scale's overall internal consistency coefficient was 0.87. Kenneth S. Law's study using Chinese participants also validated its internal validity. Law contends that EI focuses on emotional competencies; thus, scales designed based on these competencies yield superior results compared to self-report tests. 2.2.3 The Clance impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) The scale was compiled by Clance [ 6 ] and translated into Chinese by Jiang Lumiao's team [ 17 ] . It consists of 18 items across three dimensions: passive camouflage, external attribution, and self-doubt, with a total of 18 items. The Likert 5-point scoring method was used, ranging from 1 to 5 points from "completely inconsistent" to "completely consistent," and the total score was 18–90. Higher scores indicate a more severe IP. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale in this study was 0.903 [ 1 ] , and the Chinese version of the CIPS has good reliability and validity. 2.2.4 The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) This scale was developed by Goldberg [ 18 ] and is primarily used to assess an individual's mental health status over the past few weeks. The questionnaire consisted of 12 items, each rated on a four-point scale. Respondents who agreed with the first two statements received 0 points, while those who agreed with the latter two received 1 point. The total score ranged from 0 to 12. A cumulative score of ≥ 4 points indicates a positive detection of mental health issues, with higher scores reflecting more severe psychological problems [ 19 ] . In this study, the Cronbach's α coefficient for the total scale was 0.702, indicating that the GHQ-12 possesses good reliability and validity [ 20 ] . 2.3 Statistical analysis IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0 and Process macro programs were used for data analysis. The EI and IP scores are expressed as mean ± SD , and categorical variables such as gender, age, and whether the individual has served as a class officer were expressed as counts and percentages. T-test or ANOVA were used to examine the sociodemographic differences in EI and IP. Spearman correlation analysis was used to test the relationship between EI, IP and mental health. To test the mediating effect of mental health, model 4 in Process macro was used to analyze the mediating effect of Bootstrap sampling (5000 times) after controlling the confounding factors of whether they were the only child and academic performance. A p -value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant in all statistical analyses. 3 Results 3.1 Undergraduate nursing students' characteristics This study investigated a total of 317 undergraduate nursing students. The sample had a mean age of 20.54 years ( SD = 1.47, range: 18–26), and 77 % were female. Regarding their backgrounds, 53.6 % had never served as class cadres, 68.8 % were not only children, and 52.1 % were from urban areas. Academically, 51.1 % had grade points between 60 and 79. In terms of socioeconomic status, 47.4 % reported a monthly family income exceeding 6,000 yuan. The EI scores of undergraduate nursing students varied according to their academic performance. A statistically significant difference was observed (P < 0.05). The IP scores differed based on whether the individual was an only child. This difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). Details are presented in Table 1 (see end of the file). Table 1 Social-demographic differences in emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon(n = 317) n % Emotional intelligence Mean ± SD t / F P Impostor phenomenon Mean ± SD t / F P Gender -0.006 0.245 -0.006 0.995 Male 73 23 79.15 ± 14.81 58.73 ± 13.52 Female 244 77 81.38 ± 14.22 58.74 ± 13.56 whether the individual has served as a class officer 1.614 0.107 1.199 0.231 Yes 147 46.4 82.27 ± 13.97 59.71 ± 13.13 NO 170 53.6 79.66 ± 14.64 57.89 ± 13.85 Academic performance 3.392 0.035 1.932 0.147 80 points 151 47.6 82.99 ± 13.41 57.19 ± 14.50 whether the individual is an only child − .100 0.920 -2.023 0.044 Yes 99 31.2 80.75 ± 14.48 56.46 ± 12.82 NO 218 68.8 80.92 ± 14.35 59.77 ± 13.75 Socioeconomic background 0.001 0.999 1.711 0.088 Rural 152 47.9 80.87 ± 13.81 60.09 ± 12.41 Urban 165 52.1 80.87 ± 14.91 57.49 ± 14.41 Family per capita monthly income 0.347 0.707 1.469 0.232 6000 156 47.4 81.44 ± 15.70 150 ± 14.73 3.2 Emotional Intelligence and Impostor Phenomenon Scores in Undergraduate Nursing Students Undergraduate nursing students' total EI score was 80.87 ± 14.37, and the total IP score was 58.74 ± 13.53. Details are provided in Table 2 (see end of the file). Table 2 Descriptive statistics for the study scales(n = 317) Variable Range of scores Actual score range Actual score Number of items Item mean score Total Emotional Intelligence 16–112 24–112 80.87 ± 14.37 16 5.05 ± 0.90 self-emotion assessment 4–28 4–28 20.47 ± 3.88 4 5.12 ± 0.97 other-emotion assessment 4–28 5–28 20.75 ± 3.98 4 5.19 ± 0.99 emotion utilization 4–28 6–28 20.03 ± 4.11 4 5.01 ± 1.03 emotion regulation 4–28 4–28 19.61 ± 4.57 4 4.90 ± 1.14 Total Impostor Phenomenon 18–90 18–90 58.74 ± 13.53 18 3.26 ± 0.75 passive camouflage 4–20 4–20 13.82 ± 3.04 4 3.46 ± 0.76 External attribution 6–30 6–30 18.73 ± 4.87 6 3.12 ± 0.81 self-doubt 8–40 8–40 26.18 ± 6.70 8 3.27 ± 0.84 3.3 General Mental Health Status The results indicated that 21.45% of nursing students screened positive for potential mental health issues. Over one-quarter of the respondents answered "1" (indicating the presence of a symptom) for items 2, 5, and 9. This indicates that positive screenings are predominantly associated with insomnia, perceived stress, and unhappiness or depression. The detailed information is presented in Table 3 . Table 3 Distribution of Responses to the Mental Health Scale(n = 317) Item 0 points 1 points 1. Focus 278(87.7 % ) 39 (12.3 % ) 2. Insomnia 227(71.6 % ) 90 (28.4 % ) 3. Feeling useful 289(91.2 % ) 28(8.8 % ) 4. Decision-making ability 290(91.5 % ) 27(8.5 % ) 5. Feeling stressed 183(57.7 % ) 134(42.3 % ) 6. Overcoming work/challenges 281(88.6 % ) 36(11.4 % ) 7. Enjoying daily life 290(91.5 % ) 27(8.5 % ) 8. Facing problems 285(89.9 % ) 32(10.1 % ) 9. Feeling unhappy/depressed 236(74.4 % ) 81(25.6 % ) 10. Loss of confidence 275(86.8 % ) 42(13.2%) 11. Feeling worthless 285(89.9 % ) 32(10.1 % ) 12. Feeling cheerful 276(87.1 % ) 41(12.9 % ) 3.4 Correlations among emotional intelligence, impostor phenomenon, and mental health The Spearman correlation analysis results for undergraduate nursing students are presented in Table 4 . EI had a very weak positive correlation with IP, with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.067. The reason for not showing significance might be the small sample size. Mental health was negatively correlated with EI ( r =-0.213); and positively correlated with IP ( r = 0.249). Table 4 Correlations among emotional intelligence, impostor phenomenon, and mental health Emotional Intelligence Mental Health Impostor Phenomenon Emotional Intelligence 1 Mental Health -0.213 ** 1 Impostor Phenomenon 0.067 0.249 ** 1 Notes: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 3.5 Multicollinearity analysis among the independent variables This study used self-report to collect data, which may be subject to common method bias. To address this potential issue, multiple linear regression analysis was performed using EI and mental health to predict IP. The analysis included a test for multicollinearity. The variance inflation factor (VIF) value was 1.101, which was multicollinearity below the critical value of 5. The tolerance was 0.908, which was well above the minimum standard of 0.10. The results show that there is no multicollinearity problem in the model. 3.6 The results of regression and mediation analyses According to the suggestion of Wen Zhonglin and Ye Baojuan [ 21 ] on testing mediation effects, a regression analysis was conducted on the mediation model. The Enter method was used to examine the mediating effects. The results are shown in Table 5 . In the regression and mediation analyses, the primary reasons for focusing on grades and being an only child were analyzed as covariates. Although the overall effect of EI on IP was not significant ( β = 0.082, P > 0.05), based on the findings of Wen Zhonglin et al [ 22 ] , the analysis could proceed. The results show a clear suppression effect: EI indirectly increased IP by lowering mental health (indirect effect), but it also directly predicted higher IP (direct effect). These two opposing pathways counteract each other, leading to an overall negligible effect. When mental health was added to the regression equation, EI had a direct predictive effect on IP ( β = 0.175, t = 3.106, P < 0.05). EI had a strong negative predictive effect on mental health ( β = -0.300, t = -5.540, P < 0.05), and mental health had a strong predictive effect on IP ( β = 0.310, t = 5.528, P < 0.05). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was confirmed. Table 5 Mediating effect of mental health on emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon(n = 317) Model 1 Model 2 Model β t P β t P β t P whether the individual is an only child .119 2.135 .034 .083 1.549 .122 .093 1.743 .082 Academic performance − .121 -2.148 .033 − .027 − .504 .614 − .112 -2.088 .038 Emotional Intelligence .082 1.456 .146 -0.300 -5.540 .000 .175 3.106 .002 Mental Health .310 5.528 .000 R 2 .031 .099 .107 F 3.389 11.480 10.421 Model 1: Emotional intelligence predicts impostor phenomenon; Model 2: Emotional intelligence predicts mental health; Model 3: Emotional intelligence and mental health jointly predict impostor phenomenon. The indirect effect of mental health between EI and IP was examined using the bias-corrected percentile bootstrap method (with 5,000 resamples). Results, shown in Table 6 , indicate that EI directly influences IP and also does so indirectly through mental health, confirming Hypotheses 1 and 3. EI directly impacts IP with a strong effect of 0.164 and a mediating effect of -0.097. However, the overall effect was not strong (effect size = 0.067, 95 % CI = [-0.044, 0.177]). The opposite signs of the direct and indirect effects indicate the existence of a suppression effect. That is, EI has a negative indirect effect on IP through mental health, and at the same time has a positive direct effect on IP, and the two cancel each other, resulting in an insignificant total effect. A graphical representation of the mediating effect of mental health on the relationship between EI and IP is shown in Fig. 2 . Figure 2 Path model of mental health mediating the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon. Notes: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Table 6 Mediating effect of mental health on emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon Effect SE t P Bootstrapping Bias-corrected 95 % CI Lower Upper Total effect 0.067 0.056 1.186 0.236 -0.044 0.177 Direct effect 0.164 0.056 2.914 0.004 0.053 0.275 Indirect effect -0.097 0.024 - - -0.146 -0.055 4 Discussion This study explored the relationship between EI, mental health, and IP, and the mediating role of mental health between EI and IP. The results showed that: (1) EI and IP were moderately high, and the prevalence of mental health issues was slightly lower than that of adults in our country. (2) There was a weak positive correlation between EI and IP, which may be due to the small sample size. Mental health was negatively correlated with EI and positively correlated with IP scores. (3) Mental health partially mediated the relationship between EI and IP. A survey of 317 undergraduate nursing students revealed that their overall EI score was 80.87 ± 14.37, with an average item score of 5.05 ± 0.90, indicating a moderately high overall level, exceeding the score of 3.78 ± 0.86 reported by Gao Lishuo et al [ 1 ] . This discrepancy may be attributed to regional differences in the nursing student population. It was lower than the score of 5.51 ± 1.09 reported by Hu Yuyou et al [ 18 ] , but both studies indicate that the overall EI level of undergraduate nursing students is in the upper-middle range. The survey results indicate that nursing students scored highest in the dimension of “self-emotional assessment” and lowest in “emotional regulation”. This suggests that nursing students possess a certain capacity for self-perceiving emotions, while their ability to regulate emotions is relatively weak, consistent with previous research findings [ 23 ] . During their undergraduate studies, nursing students progressively transition from theoretical learning to clinical practice from freshman to senior year. During the first three years of school, nursing students primarily focus on theoretical knowledge acquisition and lack clinical experience. Consequently, when confronted with a shift in the learning environment, they struggle to effectively regulate their emotions. Although the findings indicate that nursing students possess above-average EI, deficiencies remain in the dimension of emotion regulation. Therefore, institutions should systematically enhance nursing students' emotional regulation capabilities at different stages by providing more clinical practice opportunities for lower-year students to gradually build foundational emotional awareness and regulation skills and establishing additional clinical practice platforms for upper-year students—particularly fourth-year interns—to learn how to appropriately manage negative emotions arising during their studies and develop effective coping strategies to adapt to the challenges encountered in clinical placements. This study showed that the prevalence rate of mental health issues among undergraduate nursing students was 21.45 % . This proportion was lower than the positive detection rate of overall medical students reported in the previous literature (38.5 % ) [ 24 ] . The survey showed that the main factors affecting the mental health of nursing students were insomnia, stress, and feelings of unhappiness or depression, findings that align with previous studies [ 5 , 24 ] . Nursing students are negated by patients, heavy internship tasks, employment, and other factors that make nursing students feel stressed and anxious, which causes insomnia. Medical schools should prioritize the mental health of nursing students by implementing measures such as reducing clinical workloads, providing career guidance, and alleviating student stress. This approach promotes mental well-being among nursing students, cultivates sound psychological qualities, and enhances their capacity to deliver high-quality nursing care. The survey results of this study showed that the total score of IP for undergraduate nursing students was (58.74 ± 13.53), the average score per item was (3.26 ± 0.75), and the overall level was above average, similar to the findings of Xia Yu et al [ 25 ] . As a vital reserve force in the nursing industry, nursing students' clinical practice is a crucial component of their transition into the nursing workplace in the future. However, due to complex workplace dynamics, the negative attitudes of patients towards interns, the lack of practical experience among nursing students, and the weak regulation of nursing students' emotions, the overall level of nursing students’ IP is above average. It is suggested that nursing schools should add nurse-patient communication skills and emotion management courses, and hospitals should strengthen the daily lives of nursing interns, conduct psychological adjustment activities regularly, and promote the mental health of nursing students. The results of the correlation analysis between EI and IP of undergraduate nursing students showed that the higher the level of EI of undergraduate nursing students, the higher the occurrence of IP. This phenomenon is due to the more common ambivalence state in nursing students. On the one hand, they are introverted with a strong sense of inferiority; on the other hand, they crave approval from others. In addition, they have poor adaptability but still hope to be understood and respected by the people around them [ 26 ] , and factors such as high sensitivity and low confidence also aggravate the generation of such contradictory psychology to some extent. Based on the above research results, it is suggested that mindfulness meditation training for nursing students with a high level of IP should be strengthened, and their growth mindset should be actively cultivated. Schools should incorporate IP into the nursing professional training system, cultivate the growth mentality of nursing students, evaluate situations more rationally and objectively [ 27 – 28 ] , and improve the degree of attention of nursing students to their own mental health to effectively reduce the level of IP of undergraduate nursing students and lay a solid psychological foundation for nursing students to connect to clinical work. The results of the correlation analysis of undergraduate nursing students' mental health, EI, and IP showed that the healthier the nursing students' mental health, the higher the level of EI and the lower the level of IP. This is due to good emotional health and a psychological balance. This finding is conducive to cultivating students' self-confidence, self-consistency, and lower levels of anxiety and internal conflict. This study emphasizes the importance of improving the psychological education environment for nursing students and addressing their mental health. It is advised that a trinity model incorporating "family-school-clinical" be used to improve students' emotional intelligence development. To dynamically evaluate mental health, EI, and IP, regular activities such as emotional diary analysis can be used. Nursing students' capacity for self-education can also be enhanced by the introduction of professional teaching teams, organized mental health education, and prompt psychological treatment for negative emotions [ 26 ] . This study showed that mental health mediates the relationship between EI and IP. The analysis indicated a suppression effect. EI had a negative indirect effect on IP through mental health. However, EI also had a positive direct effect. These effects offset each other, leading to an insignificant overall effect. EI negatively predicted mental health issues ( β = -0.300, t = -5.540, P < 0.05), which is similar to the research results of Zeidner et al [ 29 ] ; that is, students with a higher level of EI can better use and regulate personal emotions and others' emotions, which helps them cope with stress inner conflicts efficiently, promoting their own mental health. Meanwhile, mental health positively predicted IP ( β = 0.310, t = 5.528, P < 0.05), which was in line with the hypothesis. This may be because nursing students are more likely to experience self-doubt and self-denial if they are in a state of emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and inferiority for a long time. Consequently, a higher level of IP was observed. Therefore, the indirect effect of this study shows that a good mental state can be achieved by improving EI, which provides a good environment for nursing students to resist self-denial. High EI is conducive to good mental health among nursing students, and good mental health can reduce IP, which is an important factor in resisting self-denial. In this study, after controlling for mental health, EI had a significant positive direct effect on IP ( β = 0.175, t = 3.106, P < 0.05). This suggests that EI may predispose nursing students to self-denial when the positive contribution of mental health is excluded. One possible reason is that EI is a "double-edged sword". Individuals with high levels of EI may not only be sensitive to other people's emotions, but also be sensitive to their own emotions. Therefore, they may amplify their negative emotions and failure experiences, causing deep introspection among nursing students. Consequently, self-denial is more likely to occur. Another possibility is that EI is a multidimensional construct, with different dimensions exerting distinct effects. Previous research has indicated that various dimensions of EI may produce opposing influences within the same context [ 30 ] . Based on this, the present study hypothesizes that the ability to manage emotions (e.g., emotional regulation) and the ability to perceive emotions (e.g., emotional appraisal) may have markedly different effects on self-denial. The former may promote psychological well-being, whereas the latter may lead to excessive introspection under certain circumstances. This study employed total scores for analysis; future research may explore more refined dimensions for a deeper investigation. Because this positive direct effect offsets the negative indirect effect, the total effect of EI on IP becomes weak and insignificant. This finding reveals the "suppression effect" in statistical phenomena and the complex internal mechanism between variables, which would be completely concealed if only simple correlation analysis or total effect testing were performed. This study not only validated the relationships between the variables, but also revealed the underlying mechanisms. The discovery of a suppression effect between EI and IP, which demonstrates that EI' s influence is not always positive, deepens our understanding of EI' s complex effects. In the field of education, while enhancing EI, educators should be mindful of its dual-sided impact. While cultivating positive effects, such as emotional regulation, they should avoid negative consequences, such as excessive rumination. Therefore, complementary mental health education is essential to provide proper guidance and reinforce the positive effects of EI. In clinical practice, it is important to consider whether people with high EI continue to struggle with IP characteristics like "perfectionism" or "emotional hypersensitivity". Instead of focusing on self-criticism, intervention efforts should help individuals convert emotional insights into positive self-acceptance. These individuals can better manage their IP and experience positive psychological development. 5 Limitations There are some limitations. First, data were collected solely through questionnaire surveys, without conducting in-depth individual interviews. Future research could incorporate student interviews combined with objective indicators, such as peer reports and teacher evaluations, to gain a deeper understanding of nursing students' comprehension and self-assessment of EI and IP. Second, due to the cross-sectional design, causal relationships between variables cannot be firmly established, even though a theoretical direction is proposed. Longitudinal or experimental intervention studies are needed to verify these causal links. Third, as the sample was drawn exclusively from undergraduate nursing students, the generalizability of the findings to other populations is limited and requires further examination. 6 Conclusion This study identifies both a protective pathway (where EI reduces IP via mental health) and a potentially risky direct pathway. In practice applications, the focus should be on amplifying the protective pathway while mitigating the risky one to effectively promote individuals' psychological well-being and positive self-concept. Abbreviations Abbreviation Full Term EI Emotional Intelligence IP Impostor Phenomenon Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shantou University Medical College (Approval No. SUMC-2024-078). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the study. Consent for publication Written informed consent for publication was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Authors' contributions Mingxia Li: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft. Wenyan Qin: Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing Danyun Peng: Investigation, Formal analysis,Methodology Haiying Han: Supervision, Validation, Investigation, Project administration Huifang Luo: Supervision, Validation, Investigation,Writing – review & editing, Project administration Acknowledgements During the preparation of this work, the authors used DeepL Translator and ChatGPT for language polishing and grammatical correction. After using these tools/services, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication. References Gao LS, Wang YQ, Zang XY. (2024). Correlation analysis of emotional intelligence and clinical adaptability among nursing students. Continuing Medical Education , 38(6), 98–101. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:JYJY.0.2024-06-024 Hajibabaee F, Farahani A, Ameri M, Salehi Z, T., Hosseini F. The relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence among Iranian nursing students. 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Perfectionism, the imposter phenomenon and psychological adjustment in medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students. Med Educ. 1998;32(5):456–64. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-29 23.1998.00234.x . Hobfoll SE. Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol. 1989;44(3):513–24. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.44.3.513 . Zeidner M, Matthews G. Ability emotional intelligence and mental health: Social support as a mediator. Pers Indiv Differ. 2016;99:196–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.008 . Lai SM, Han X, Yang HF. (2009). A review of foreign research on ruminative thinking. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology , 15(1), 90–96. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:YXNX.0.2009-01-014 Schoemann AM, Boulton AJ, Short S. Determining power and sample size for simple and complex mediation models. Social Psychol Personality Sci. 2017;8(4):379–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617715068 . Law KS, Wong CS, Song LJ. The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. J Appl Psychol. 2004;89(3):483–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.483 . Jiang LM, Xu YL, Liu XQ, Zhang CX. (2022). Translation and validation of the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale in a sample of nurses. Chinese Nursing Research , 36(14), 2486–2490. https://doi.org/CNKI:SU N:SXHZ.0.2022-14-008. Goldberg D, Williams PD. A user's guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Nfer-Nelson; 1988. Haoka T, Sasahara S, Tomotsune Y, Yoshino S, Maeno T, Matsuzaki I. The effect of stress-related factors on mental health status among resident doctors in Japan. Med Educ. 2010;44(8):826–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03725.x . Wang J, Liu J, Huang M, Chen W. (2018, October). Revision of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12): Reliability and validity analysis based on item wording effects . [Paper presentation]. Abstracts of the 21st National Conference of Psychology, Guiyang, China. 1030–1031. Wen ZL, Ye BJ. Analyses of Mediating Effects: The Development of Methods and Models. Adv Psychol Sci. 2014;22:731–45. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2014.00731 . Wen Z, Ye B. (2014). Mediation effect analysis: Methods and model development. Advances in Psychological Science , 22(5), 731–745. https://doi.org/CNKI:SULXLXD.0.2014-05-001. Luo H, Cai Z, Liu S, Guo T, Yang X. (2023). The mediating role of self-leadership between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy among nursing students. Guangxi Medical Journal , 45(8), 993–996, 1001. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:GYYX.0.2023-08-022. Xu J. (2019). Factor analysis of mental health status among medical students based on the Kessler 10 scale. Modern Preventive Medicine , 46(16), 2996–3000. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:XDYF.0.2019-16-028 Xu J. (2019). Factor analysis of mental health status among medical students based on the Kessler 10 scale. Modern Preventive Medicine , 46(16), 2996–3000. https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:XDYF.0.2019-16-028 Xie L, Tian TT, Jia WY. Psychological characteristics and educational strategies of higher vocational nursing students. Knowl Econ. 2015;23:112. https://doi.org/10.15880/j.cnki.zsjj.2015.23.077 . Zhang YF. (2023). A study on stressors, self-efficacy, and mental health status of nursing interns (Master's thesis, Shenyang Medical College). https://doi.org/10.27900/d.cnki.gsyyx.2023.000116 Pastan CD, Donough M, Finkelman AL, M., Daniels JC. Evaluation of mindfulness practice in mitigating impostor feelings in dental students. J Dent Educ. 2022;86(11):1513–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.12965 . Zeidner M, Matthews G. Ability emotional intelligence and mental health: Social support as a mediator. Pers Indiv Differ. 2016;99:196–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.008 . Lubbadeh T. Emotional Intelligence and Leadership—The Dark and Bright Sides. Mod Manage Rev. 2020;25:39–50. https://doi.org/10.7862/rz.2020.mmr.5 . Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 04 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Jan, 2026 Editor invited by journal 30 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 27 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 27 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8220923","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":577774523,"identity":"9cbca7fb-1bf6-4a2e-bda7-a0180c0e276c","order_by":0,"name":"Mingxia Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shantou University Medical College","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingxia","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":577774527,"identity":"165a15b8-4640-462d-b4a4-4dec862d56f3","order_by":1,"name":"Wenyan Qin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Affiliated Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical 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08:33:04","extension":"html","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":136299,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8220923/v1/cc4d0f5e9d7b882b4a9fb704.html"},{"id":100866415,"identity":"04fb3b1e-dea1-4e68-80be-15b923ba7b54","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-22 08:33:04","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":69380,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe hypothesized model\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH1: Emotional intelligence significantly predicts impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH2: Mental health significantly predicts the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH3: Emotional intelligence can indirectly predict the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students through the mediating effect of mental health.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8220923/v1/0af335b153a6f72944828952.png"},{"id":100866417,"identity":"637cd605-abc2-4452-976c-b92baa1e9852","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-22 08:33:04","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":70872,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePath model of mental health mediating the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: *p \u0026lt; 0.05; **p \u0026lt; 0.01; ***p \u0026lt; 0.001.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8220923/v1/83829adce2a3e167e79fd9d7.png"},{"id":100952696,"identity":"ac5da802-5d0f-4d87-b93e-4de8f4a9b258","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-23 07:17:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1483052,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8220923/v1/d12198a5-e89c-4e79-bccb-b90208925581.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Safeguarding the future nursing workforce: The role of mental health in the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon among undergraduate nursing students","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eChina has raised the bar for nurses due to the country's rapid social development and aging population. The government's strong emphasis on producing high-quality nursing professionals was demonstrated in 2023 when the Ministry of Education designated nursing as a \"state-controlled major\". Nursing students will have to navigate complex multi-team collaborations and complex nurse-patient relationships in the future. These challenges place higher demands on the clinical adaptability, communication skills, and emotion regulation of nursing students, all of which are closely related to emotional intelligence(EI)\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. Improving the EI of nursing students enhances their clinical adaptation, communication, and emotional management skills, thereby supporting their overall development as competent healthcare professionals. The impostor phenomenon(IP) is positively associated with psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, and burnout\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, which can severely affect the mental health of nursing students. This finding is supported by domestic researchers who have reported poor mental health status among nursing students\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHowever, few studies have examined the relationship between EI, IP, and the mental health of undergraduate nursing students. Therefore, to understand the situation and correlation of undergraduate nursing students' EI, IP, and mental health, and to explore the specific impact of mental health on the relationship between EI and IP, is conducive to the targeted proposal to effectively improve EI of undergraduate nursing students, reduce their IP, and promote mental health. This research seeks to provide valuable insights for training high-quality nursing talent, improving the stability of the nursing team and promoting the high-quality development of nursing career.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.1 Theory and hypotheses\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.1.1 Relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA review of the literature shows that the correlation between EI and IP remains unclear, both domestically and internationally. EI refers to an individual's ability to monitor their own and others' emotions and feelings, and use this awareness to guide their thoughts and behaviors\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. IP is defined as the tendency of individuals to attribute success to some external reasons(such as luck, help from others, good social relations, etc.) rather than their own strength after they meet with success\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. EI can promote self-efficacy in career decision-making\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. Low EI is mainly manifested in weak self-awareness, lack of self-restraint, and lack of self-motivation\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, and low EI may be associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. EI is negatively correlated with negative affect and job burnout\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. A high level of IP confidence in work ability contributes to job burnout\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. People with high IP often doubt their abilities, feel anxious, lack confidence, and experience stress\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR5 CR6 CR7 CR8 CR9 CR10\" citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotably, EI and IP exhibit a high degree of similarity in their effects, suggesting a potential connection between the two. Both represent an individual's response to their psychological characteristics and are influenced by their mental health status. Therefore, research on these phenomena can clarify their relationship, provide scientific evidence, and simultaneously draw the attention of scholars and higher education institutions to EI and IP among nursing students. This would enable targeted interventions, offering valuable insights into cultivating high-quality nursing professionals, enhancing the stability of the nursing workforce, and advancing the high-quality development of the nursing profession.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.1.2 Mediating effects of mental health\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the theory of resource conservation\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, EI is an important component of personal resources. EI can help individuals better manage and use their emotions, prevent resource depletion, and maintain good mental health. A study has pointed out that EI positively predicts mental health\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. Individuals with impaired mental health, particularly those with chronic depression, frequently develop negative cognitive schemas\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. This cognitive pattern leads individuals to focus on and magnify their failures, shortcomings, and inadequacies while overlooking their strengths and achievements. Over time, this severely distorts an individual's self-perception, intensifying tendencies toward IP.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to determine the relationship between EI and IP among undergraduate nursing students. It further sought to examine the mediating role of mental health in the effect of EI on IP behavior. Based on these questions, the following hypotheses were proposed: the theoretical model is presented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e The hypothesized model\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH1: Emotional intelligence significantly predicts impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH2: Mental health significantly predicts the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH3: Emotional intelligence can indirectly predict the impostor phenomenon in undergraduate nursing students through the mediating effect of mental health.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"2 Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Setup and sample\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese nursing students from September 2024 to August 2025 via an online electronic questionnaire. Using convenience sampling, 337 questionnaires were distributed. After screening out 20 questionnaires with illogical or obviously erroneous responses, 317 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding an effective response rate of 94.07\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e. Power analysis was performed using a Monte Carlo simulation\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e to calculate the sample size. We included full-time undergraduate nursing students in the study. Participants must be enrolled and give knowledgeable consent to join this study. We excluded those with a history of academic suspension or any physical or mental disorders that could affect their participation. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shantou University Medical College (Approval No. SUMC-2024-078). We adhered to the principles of informed consent, voluntary participation, confidentiality, and non-maleficence throughout the study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Assessment instruments\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.1 Basic information survey\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe questionnaire was designed by the researchers themselves and included variables such as gender, age, whether the individual has served as a class officer, academic performance, and whether the individual is an only child.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.2 The Chinese version of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS)\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis scale was developed by Chi-Sum Wong and Kenneth S. Law\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. The scale comprises 16 items across four dimensions: self-emotion assessment, other-emotion assessment, emotion utilization, and emotion regulation. A 7-point Likert scale was employed, with scores ranging from 1(\"strongly disagree\") to 7 (\"strongly agree\"). The total score ranges from 16 to 112, with higher scores indicating greater EI. The scale's overall internal consistency coefficient was 0.87. Kenneth S. Law's study using Chinese participants also validated its internal validity. Law contends that EI focuses on emotional competencies; thus, scales designed based on these competencies yield superior results compared to self-report tests.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.3 The Clance impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS)\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe scale was compiled by Clance\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e and translated into Chinese by Jiang Lumiao's team\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. It consists of 18 items across three dimensions: passive camouflage, external attribution, and self-doubt, with a total of 18 items. The Likert 5-point scoring method was used, ranging from 1 to 5 points from \"completely inconsistent\" to \"completely consistent,\" and the total score was 18\u0026ndash;90. Higher scores indicate a more severe IP. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale in this study was 0.903\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, and the Chinese version of the CIPS has good reliability and validity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.4 The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12)\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis scale was developed by Goldberg\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e and is primarily used to assess an individual's mental health status over the past few weeks. The questionnaire consisted of 12 items, each rated on a four-point scale. Respondents who agreed with the first two statements received 0 points, while those who agreed with the latter two received 1 point. The total score ranged from 0 to 12. A cumulative score of \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;4 points indicates a positive detection of mental health issues, with higher scores reflecting more severe psychological problems\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. In this study, the Cronbach's α coefficient for the total scale was 0.702, indicating that the GHQ-12 possesses good reliability and validity\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3 Statistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0 and Process macro programs were used for data analysis. The EI and IP scores are expressed as \u003cem\u003emean\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;SD\u003c/em\u003e, and categorical variables such as gender, age, and whether the individual has served as a class officer were expressed as counts and percentages. \u003cem\u003eT-test\u003c/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003eANOVA\u003c/em\u003e were used to examine the sociodemographic differences in EI and IP. Spearman correlation analysis was used to test the relationship between EI, IP and mental health. To test the mediating effect of mental health, model 4 in Process macro was used to analyze the mediating effect of Bootstrap sampling (5000 times) after controlling the confounding factors of whether they were the only child and academic performance. A \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value of \u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 was considered statistically significant in all statistical analyses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Undergraduate nursing students' characteristics\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study investigated a total of 317 undergraduate nursing students. The sample had a mean age of 20.54 years (\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.47, range: 18\u0026ndash;26), and 77\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e were female. Regarding their backgrounds, 53.6\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e had never served as class cadres, 68.8\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e were not only children, and 52.1\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e were from urban areas. Academically, 51.1\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e had grade points between 60 and 79. In terms of socioeconomic status, 47.4\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e reported a monthly family income exceeding 6,000 yuan. The EI scores of undergraduate nursing students varied according to their academic performance. A statistically significant difference was observed \u003cem\u003e(P\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). The IP scores differed based on whether the individual was an only child. This difference was statistically significant (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Details are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e (see end of the file).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocial-demographic differences in emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;317)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003en\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmotional intelligence \u003cem\u003eMean\u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e/\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eImpostor phenomenon\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMean\u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e/\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.006\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.245\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.006\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.995\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79.15\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.73\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e244\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.38\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.74\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhether the individual has served as a class officer\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.614\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.107\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.199\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.231\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e147\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e82.27\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e59.71\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e170\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e79.66\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e57.89\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcademic performance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.392\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.035\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.932\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.147\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;60 points\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e83.50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;20.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;19.43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60\u0026ndash;80 points\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e162\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e51.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78.83\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.89\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60.19\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;80 points\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e151\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e47.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e82.99\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e57.19\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhether the individual is an only child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.920\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-2.023\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.044\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e99\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56.46\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.82\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e218\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.92\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e59.77\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocioeconomic background\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.999\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.711\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.088\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRural\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e152\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e47.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.87\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60.09\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUrban\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e165\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.87\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.91\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e57.49\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.41\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFamily per capita monthly income\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.347\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.707\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.469\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.232\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;3000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.55\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;10.47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3000\u0026ndash;6000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e138\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.10\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e138\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.65\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;6000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e156\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e47.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81.44\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.70\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e150\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Emotional Intelligence and Impostor Phenomenon Scores in Undergraduate Nursing Students\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate nursing students' total EI score was 80.87\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.37, and the total IP score was 58.74\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.53. Details are provided in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e (see end of the file).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics for the study scales(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;317)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRange of scores\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eActual score range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eActual score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNumber of items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItem mean score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal Emotional Intelligence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u0026ndash;112\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u0026ndash;112\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e80.87\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.05\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eself-emotion assessment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.47\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.12\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eother-emotion assessment\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.98\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.19\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.99\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eemotion utilization\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.03\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.01\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eemotion regulation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19.61\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.90\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal Impostor Phenomenon\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u0026ndash;90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u0026ndash;90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e58.74\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.53\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.26\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epassive camouflage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13.82\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.04\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.46\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExternal attribution\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u0026ndash;30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u0026ndash;30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.73\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.87\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.12\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eself-doubt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u0026ndash;40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u0026ndash;40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26.18\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;6.70\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.27\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 General Mental Health Status\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results indicated that 21.45% of nursing students screened positive for potential mental health issues. Over one-quarter of the respondents answered \"1\" (indicating the presence of a symptom) for items 2, 5, and 9. This indicates that positive screenings are predominantly associated with insomnia, perceived stress, and unhappiness or depression. The detailed information is presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistribution of Responses to the Mental Health Scale(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;317)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItem\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0 points\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 points\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1. Focus\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e278(87.7\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39 (12.3\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. Insomnia\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e227(71.6\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e90 (28.4\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. Feeling useful\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e289(91.2\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28(8.8\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. Decision-making ability\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e290(91.5\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27(8.5\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. Feeling stressed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e183(57.7\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e134(42.3\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. Overcoming work/challenges\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e281(88.6\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36(11.4\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7. Enjoying daily life\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e290(91.5\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27(8.5\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8. Facing problems\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e285(89.9\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32(10.1\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9. Feeling unhappy/depressed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e236(74.4\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e81(25.6\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10. Loss of confidence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e275(86.8\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42(13.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11. Feeling worthless\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e285(89.9\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32(10.1\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12. Feeling cheerful\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e276(87.1\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e41(12.9\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4 Correlations among emotional intelligence, impostor phenomenon, and mental health\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Spearman correlation analysis results for undergraduate nursing students are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e. EI had a very weak positive correlation with IP, with a correlation coefficient of \u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.067. The reason for not showing significance might be the small sample size. Mental health was negatively correlated with EI (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e =-0.213); and positively correlated with IP (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.249).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorrelations among emotional intelligence, impostor phenomenon, and mental health\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmotional Intelligence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMental Health\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eImpostor Phenomenon\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmotional Intelligence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMental Health\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.213\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eImpostor Phenomenon\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.249\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"4\"\u003eNotes: *\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05; **\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5 Multicollinearity analysis among the independent variables\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study used self-report to collect data, which may be subject to common method bias. To address this potential issue, multiple linear regression analysis was performed using EI and mental health to predict IP. The analysis included a test for multicollinearity. The variance inflation factor (VIF) value was 1.101, which was multicollinearity below the critical value of 5. The tolerance was 0.908, which was well above the minimum standard of 0.10. The results show that there is no multicollinearity problem in the model.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.6 The results of regression and mediation analyses\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the suggestion of Wen Zhonglin and Ye Baojuan\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e on testing mediation effects, a regression analysis was conducted on the mediation model. The Enter method was used to examine the mediating effects. The results are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e. In the regression and mediation analyses, the primary reasons for focusing on grades and being an only child were analyzed as covariates. Although the overall effect of EI on IP was not significant (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.082, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), based on the findings of Wen Zhonglin et al\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, the analysis could proceed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results show a clear suppression effect: EI indirectly increased IP by lowering mental health (indirect effect), but it also directly predicted higher IP (direct effect). These two opposing pathways counteract each other, leading to an overall negligible effect. When mental health was added to the regression equation, EI had a direct predictive effect on IP (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.175, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.106, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). EI had a strong negative predictive effect on mental health (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.300, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -5.540, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), and mental health had a strong predictive effect on IP (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.310, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.528, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was confirmed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMediating effect of mental health on emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon(n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;317)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhether the individual is an only child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.119\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.135\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.034\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.083\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.549\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.122\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.093\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.743\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.082\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcademic performance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.121\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-2.148\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.033\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.027\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.504\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.614\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.112\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-2.088\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.038\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmotional Intelligence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.082\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.456\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.300\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-5.540\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.175\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.106\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.002\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMental Health\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.310\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.528\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.031\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.099\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.107\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.389\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.480\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.421\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel 1: Emotional intelligence predicts impostor phenomenon; Model 2: Emotional intelligence predicts mental health; Model 3: Emotional intelligence and mental health jointly predict impostor phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe indirect effect of mental health between EI and IP was examined using the bias-corrected percentile bootstrap method (with 5,000 resamples). Results, shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, indicate that EI directly influences IP and also does so indirectly through mental health, confirming Hypotheses 1 and 3. EI directly impacts IP with a strong effect of 0.164 and a mediating effect of -0.097. However, the overall effect was not strong (effect size\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.067, 95\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e CI = [-0.044, 0.177]). The opposite signs of the direct and indirect effects indicate the existence of a suppression effect. That is, EI has a negative indirect effect on IP through mental health, and at the same time has a positive direct effect on IP, and the two cancel each other, resulting in an insignificant total effect. A graphical representation of the mediating effect of mental health on the relationship between EI and IP is shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e Path model of mental health mediating the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes: *p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05; **p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01; ***p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMediating effect of mental health on emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEffect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBootstrapping\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBias-corrected 95\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003eCI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUpper\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.056\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.186\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.236\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.044\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.177\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDirect effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.164\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.056\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.914\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.004\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.053\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.275\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndirect effect\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.097\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.024\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.146\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.055\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4 Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study explored the relationship between EI, mental health, and IP, and the mediating role of mental health between EI and IP. The results showed that: (1) EI and IP were moderately high, and the prevalence of mental health issues was slightly lower than that of adults in our country. (2) There was a weak positive correlation between EI and IP, which may be due to the small sample size. Mental health was negatively correlated with EI and positively correlated with IP scores. (3) Mental health partially mediated the relationship between EI and IP.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA survey of 317 undergraduate nursing students revealed that their overall EI score was 80.87\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.37, with an average item score of 5.05\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.90, indicating a moderately high overall level, exceeding the score of 3.78\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.86 reported by Gao Lishuo et al\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. This discrepancy may be attributed to regional differences in the nursing student population. It was lower than the score of 5.51\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.09 reported by Hu Yuyou et al\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, but both studies indicate that the overall EI level of undergraduate nursing students is in the upper-middle range. The survey results indicate that nursing students scored highest in the dimension of \u0026ldquo;self-emotional assessment\u0026rdquo; and lowest in \u0026ldquo;emotional regulation\u0026rdquo;. This suggests that nursing students possess a certain capacity for self-perceiving emotions, while their ability to regulate emotions is relatively weak, consistent with previous research findings\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. During their undergraduate studies, nursing students progressively transition from theoretical learning to clinical practice from freshman to senior year. During the first three years of school, nursing students primarily focus on theoretical knowledge acquisition and lack clinical experience. Consequently, when confronted with a shift in the learning environment, they struggle to effectively regulate their emotions. Although the findings indicate that nursing students possess above-average EI, deficiencies remain in the dimension of emotion regulation. Therefore, institutions should systematically enhance nursing students' emotional regulation capabilities at different stages by providing more clinical practice opportunities for lower-year students to gradually build foundational emotional awareness and regulation skills and establishing additional clinical practice platforms for upper-year students\u0026mdash;particularly fourth-year interns\u0026mdash;to learn how to appropriately manage negative emotions arising during their studies and develop effective coping strategies to adapt to the challenges encountered in clinical placements.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study showed that the prevalence rate of mental health issues among undergraduate nursing students was 21.45\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e. This proportion was lower than the positive detection rate of overall medical students reported in the previous literature (38.5\u003cem\u003e%\u003c/em\u003e)\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. The survey showed that the main factors affecting the mental health of nursing students were insomnia, stress, and feelings of unhappiness or depression, findings that align with previous studies\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. Nursing students are negated by patients, heavy internship tasks, employment, and other factors that make nursing students feel stressed and anxious, which causes insomnia. Medical schools should prioritize the mental health of nursing students by implementing measures such as reducing clinical workloads, providing career guidance, and alleviating student stress. This approach promotes mental well-being among nursing students, cultivates sound psychological qualities, and enhances their capacity to deliver high-quality nursing care.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe survey results of this study showed that the total score of IP for undergraduate nursing students was (58.74\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.53), the average score per item was (3.26\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.75), and the overall level was above average, similar to the findings of Xia Yu et al\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. As a vital reserve force in the nursing industry, nursing students' clinical practice is a crucial component of their transition into the nursing workplace in the future. However, due to complex workplace dynamics, the negative attitudes of patients towards interns, the lack of practical experience among nursing students, and the weak regulation of nursing students' emotions, the overall level of nursing students\u0026rsquo; IP is above average. It is suggested that nursing schools should add nurse-patient communication skills and emotion management courses, and hospitals should strengthen the daily lives of nursing interns, conduct psychological adjustment activities regularly, and promote the mental health of nursing students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of the correlation analysis between EI and IP of undergraduate nursing students showed that the higher the level of EI of undergraduate nursing students, the higher the occurrence of IP. This phenomenon is due to the more common ambivalence state in nursing students. On the one hand, they are introverted with a strong sense of inferiority; on the other hand, they crave approval from others. In addition, they have poor adaptability but still hope to be understood and respected by the people around them\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, and factors such as high sensitivity and low confidence also aggravate the generation of such contradictory psychology to some extent. Based on the above research results, it is suggested that mindfulness meditation training for nursing students with a high level of IP should be strengthened, and their growth mindset should be actively cultivated. Schools should incorporate IP into the nursing professional training system, cultivate the growth mentality of nursing students, evaluate situations more rationally and objectively\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e, and improve the degree of attention of nursing students to their own mental health to effectively reduce the level of IP of undergraduate nursing students and lay a solid psychological foundation for nursing students to connect to clinical work.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of the correlation analysis of undergraduate nursing students' mental health, EI, and IP showed that the healthier the nursing students' mental health, the higher the level of EI and the lower the level of IP. This is due to good emotional health and a psychological balance. This finding is conducive to cultivating students' self-confidence, self-consistency, and lower levels of anxiety and internal conflict.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study emphasizes the importance of improving the psychological education environment for nursing students and addressing their mental health. It is advised that a trinity model incorporating \"family-school-clinical\" be used to improve students' emotional intelligence development. To dynamically evaluate mental health, EI, and IP, regular activities such as emotional diary analysis can be used. Nursing students' capacity for self-education can also be enhanced by the introduction of professional teaching teams, organized mental health education, and prompt psychological treatment for negative emotions\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study showed that mental health mediates the relationship between EI and IP. The analysis indicated a suppression effect. EI had a negative indirect effect on IP through mental health. However, EI also had a positive direct effect. These effects offset each other, leading to an insignificant overall effect.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEI negatively predicted mental health issues (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.300, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -5.540, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), which is similar to the research results of Zeidner et al\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e; that is, students with a higher level of EI can better use and regulate personal emotions and others' emotions, which helps them cope with stress inner conflicts efficiently, promoting their own mental health.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, mental health positively predicted IP (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.310, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.528, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), which was in line with the hypothesis. This may be because nursing students are more likely to experience self-doubt and self-denial if they are in a state of emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and inferiority for a long time. Consequently, a higher level of IP was observed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTherefore, the indirect effect of this study shows that a good mental state can be achieved by improving EI, which provides a good environment for nursing students to resist self-denial. High EI is conducive to good mental health among nursing students, and good mental health can reduce IP, which is an important factor in resisting self-denial.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this study, after controlling for mental health, EI had a significant positive direct effect on IP (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.175, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.106, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). This suggests that EI may predispose nursing students to self-denial when the positive contribution of mental health is excluded. One possible reason is that EI is a \"double-edged sword\". Individuals with high levels of EI may not only be sensitive to other people's emotions, but also be sensitive to their own emotions. Therefore, they may amplify their negative emotions and failure experiences, causing deep introspection among nursing students. Consequently, self-denial is more likely to occur. Another possibility is that EI is a multidimensional construct, with different dimensions exerting distinct effects. Previous research has indicated that various dimensions of EI may produce opposing influences within the same context\u003csup\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e. Based on this, the present study hypothesizes that the ability to manage emotions (e.g., emotional regulation) and the ability to perceive emotions (e.g., emotional appraisal) may have markedly different effects on self-denial. The former may promote psychological well-being, whereas the latter may lead to excessive introspection under certain circumstances. This study employed total scores for analysis; future research may explore more refined dimensions for a deeper investigation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBecause this positive direct effect offsets the negative indirect effect, the total effect of EI on IP becomes weak and insignificant. This finding reveals the \"suppression effect\" in statistical phenomena and the complex internal mechanism between variables, which would be completely concealed if only simple correlation analysis or total effect testing were performed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study not only validated the relationships between the variables, but also revealed the underlying mechanisms. The discovery of a suppression effect between EI and IP, which demonstrates that EI' s influence is not always positive, deepens our understanding of EI' s complex effects.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the field of education, while enhancing EI, educators should be mindful of its dual-sided impact. While cultivating positive effects, such as emotional regulation, they should avoid negative consequences, such as excessive rumination. Therefore, complementary mental health education is essential to provide proper guidance and reinforce the positive effects of EI.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn clinical practice, it is important to consider whether people with high EI continue to struggle with IP characteristics like \"perfectionism\" or \"emotional hypersensitivity\". Instead of focusing on self-criticism, intervention efforts should help individuals convert emotional insights into positive self-acceptance. These individuals can better manage their IP and experience positive psychological development.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5 Limitations","content":"\u003cp\u003eThere are some limitations. First, data were collected solely through questionnaire surveys, without conducting in-depth individual interviews. Future research could incorporate student interviews combined with objective indicators, such as peer reports and teacher evaluations, to gain a deeper understanding of nursing students' comprehension and self-assessment of EI and IP. Second, due to the cross-sectional design, causal relationships between variables cannot be firmly established, even though a theoretical direction is proposed. Longitudinal or experimental intervention studies are needed to verify these causal links. Third, as the sample was drawn exclusively from undergraduate nursing students, the generalizability of the findings to other populations is limited and requires further examination.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6 Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study identifies both a protective pathway (where EI reduces IP via mental health) and a potentially risky direct pathway. In practice applications, the focus should be on amplifying the protective pathway while mitigating the risky one to effectively promote individuals' psychological well-being and positive self-concept.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbbreviation\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFull Term\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003eEI\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003eEmotional Intelligence\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003eIP\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 284px;\"\u003eImpostor Phenomenon\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shantou University Medical College (Approval No. SUMC-2024-078). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten informed consent for publication was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors' contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMingxia Li:\u003c/strong\u003e Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWenyan Qin:\u003c/strong\u003e Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – review \u0026amp; editing\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDanyun Peng:\u003c/strong\u003e Investigation, Formal analysis,Methodology\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHaiying Han:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eSupervision, Validation, Investigation, Project administration\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHuifang Luo:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eSupervision, Validation, Investigation,Writing – review \u0026amp; editing, Project administration\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the preparation of this work, the authors used DeepL Translator and ChatGPT for language polishing and grammatical correction. After using these tools/services, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGao LS, Wang YQ, Zang XY. (2024). Correlation analysis of emotional intelligence and clinical adaptability among nursing students. \u003cem\u003eContinuing Medical Education\u003c/em\u003e, 38(6), 98\u0026ndash;101. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:JYJY.0.2024-06-024\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://doi.org/CNKI:SUN:JYJY.0.2024-06-024\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHajibabaee F, Farahani A, Ameri M, Salehi Z, T., Hosseini F. The relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence among Iranian nursing students. 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Mod Manage Rev. 2020;25:39\u0026ndash;50. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.7862/rz.2020.mmr.5\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.7862/rz.2020.mmr.5\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-nursing","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nurs","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Nursing](http://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/nurs/default.aspx","title":"BMC Nursing","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Emotional Intelligence, Impostor Phenomenon, Mental Health, Nursing","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8220923/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8220923/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNursing students require high emotional intelligence to adapt and communicate effectively in complex clinical environments. Conversely, the impostor phenomenon has been frequently observed in this group and poses a significant threat to their mental health. However, the interplay between emotional intelligence, the impostor phenomenon, and mental health remains unclear, necessitating further investigation to inform supportive strategies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjectives\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence, mental health, and impostor phenomenon, and the mediating role of mental health between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDesign\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA descriptive cross-sectional approach was used. The STROBE Statement was followed for reporting.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParticipants\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study involved a sample of 317 undergraduate nursing students in China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData were collected during the 2024-2025 academic year using self-administered questionnaires that assessed demographic characteristics, emotional intelligence, and impostor phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticipants reported moderately high levels of emotional intelligence (80.87 ± 14.37) and impostor phenomenon (58.74 ± 13.53). The detection rate of positive mental health symptoms (21.45%) was slightly lower than the national adult norm. Emotional intelligence was negatively correlated with mental health (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01), whereas impostor phenomenon was positively correlated with it (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01). Mediation analysis revealed a suppression effect that mental health partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon, with a negative indirect effect but a positive direct effect, resulting in a non-significant total effect.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study identifies both a protective pathway (where emotional intelligence reduces impostor phenomenon via mental health) and a potentially risky direct pathway. In practice applications, the focus should be on amplifying the protective pathway while mitigating the risky one to effectively promote individuals' psychological well-being and positive self-concept.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Safeguarding the future nursing workforce: The role of mental health in the relationship between emotional intelligence and impostor phenomenon among undergraduate nursing students","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-22 08:32:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8220923/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-04T07:21:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"194200134082429226161480671448346687408","date":"2026-01-29T13:46:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-20T16:38:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-30T06:39:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-11-27T11:08:38+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-11-27T11:03:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Nursing","date":"2025-11-27T10:19:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-nursing","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nurs","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Nursing](http://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/nurs/default.aspx","title":"BMC Nursing","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6777a812-ed70-4636-8868-4be37db7151d","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 22nd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-22T08:32:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-22 08:32:59","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8220923","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8220923","identity":"rs-8220923","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}