{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T16:58:40Z","timestamp":1791910720446,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787702400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004482","name":"Kuwait University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NO02\/25"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NO02\/25"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004482","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Emotional intelligence (EI) is widely studied in health professions education, but two methodological habits limit the field: EI is usually treated as a single continuous predictor, and person-centered studies typically assign students to profiles and then test associations as though those assignments were certain. We addressed both issues, and a third that emerged from our own data: the validity of the profile solution itself.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Allied health sciences undergraduates at Kuwait University completed two self-report EI measures: the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT; a self-report measure based on the ability model, indexing self-perceived emotional skill) and the Kuwaiti-Arabic Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF; trait model). Of 561 responses, 559 remained after duplicate removal and 489 after excluding 70 invariant (straight-line) responders - a screen motivated by the fact that reverse-scoring maps every constant TEIQue-SF response pattern to a global mean of exactly 4.00, creating duplicate data points that induce degenerate, variance-collapsed solutions in unconstrained mixture models. Latent profile analysis of the two standardized scores was estimated with a variance floor; profile-outcome associations used the bias-adjusted three-step (BCH) approach with bootstrap confidence intervals (1,471 valid resamples of 2,000), compared against naive modal-assignment tests, with Holm and Bonferroni multiplicity control.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The two measures correlated only modestly (r = 0.35). A four-profile solution was favored on the Bayesian Information Criterion (entropy = 0.65): High EI (28.6%), Average EI (34.2%), Low EI (32.3%), and a Discordant EI profile (4.9%) combining very low self-perceived skill with near-average trait EI. Profile rank-ordering differed across instruments, indicating qualitatively distinct configurations, and the Discordant profile was stable across random starts, outlier removal, and bootstrap resampling. Two associations were robust: students in the Low EI profile attended voluntary EI workshops substantially more often than High and Average profiles, and stress-management confidence was highest in the Discordant profile and lowest in the Average profile. GPA showed no robust association.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Self-report EI measures from different theoretical traditions can disagree enough to define distinct student subgroups, and person-centered EI research must attend to solution validity \u2014 careless responding and degenerate likelihood spikes \u2014 as well as classification uncertainty.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1929366","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T06:31:21Z","timestamp":1787812281000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["When emotional intelligence measures disagree: discordant profiles in allied health students and why classification uncertainty matters"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hamad","family":"Alhamad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Occupational Therapy Department, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naser","family":"Alotaibi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Occupational Therapy Department, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nasser N.","family":"Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Educational Psychology Department, College of Education, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Feddah M.","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Occupational Therapy Department, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmad","family":"Alenezi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiologic Sciences Department, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Musaed Z.","family":"Alnaser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Occupational Therapy Department, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Kuwait University","place":["Kuwait City, Kuwait"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103726","DOI":"10.1016\/j.amsu.2022.103726","article-title":"Is emotional intelligence linked with academic achievement? The first TEIQue-SF study in a sample of Saudi medical rehabilitation students","volume":"78","author":"Abu Alkhayr","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ann. Med. Surg"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-023-04417-8","article-title":"Emotional intelligence weakly predicts academic success in medical programs: a multilevel meta-analysis and systematic review","volume":"23","author":"Alabbasi","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Med. Educ"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2171184","DOI":"10.1080\/23311908.2023.2171184","article-title":"Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF)","volume":"10","author":"Al-Dassean","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cogent Psychol"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/0164212X.2026.2678865","article-title":"Exploring emotional intelligence among allied health sciences students: a qualitative study with implications for occupational therapy in mental health","author":"AlHamad","year":"2026","journal-title":"Occup. Ther. Ment. Health."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2014.915181","article-title":"Auxiliary variables in mixture modeling: three-step approaches using Mplus","volume":"21","author":"Asparouhov","year":"2014","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Modeling"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2014.955104","article-title":"Robustness of stepwise latent class modeling with continuous distal outcomes","volume":"23","author":"Bakk","year":"2016","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Modeling"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1093\/pan\/mph001","article-title":"Estimating latent structure models with categorical variables: one-step vs. three-step estimators","volume":"12","author":"Bolck","year":"2004","journal-title":"Polit. Anal."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1751-9004.2010.00334.x","article-title":"Emotional intelligence: implications for personal, social, academic, and workplace success","volume":"5","author":"Brackett","year":"2011","journal-title":"Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nedt.2018.01.010","article-title":"Emotional intelligence and health students' wellbeing: a two-wave study with students of medicine, physiotherapy and nursing","volume":"63","author":"Carvalho","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nurse Educ. Today"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nedt.2018.05.018","article-title":"Promoting emotional intelligence and resilience in undergraduate nursing students: an integrative review","volume":"68","author":"Cleary","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nurse Educ. Today"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1080\/00223891.2010.497426","article-title":"A psychometric analysis of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire\u2013Short Form (TEIQue\u2013SF) using item response theory","volume":"92","author":"Cooper","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Pers. Assess."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2015.07.006","article-title":"Methods for the detection of carelessly invalid responses in survey data","volume":"66","author":"Curran","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Exp. Soc. Psychol"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"947","DOI":"10.1007\/s11031-018-9712-4","article-title":"Profiles of emotional intelligence and demotivation to attend school in Chilean adolescents","volume":"42","author":"D\u00edaz-Herrero","year":"2018","journal-title":"Motiv. Emot."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1186\/s12912-022-00933-y","article-title":"Influence of emotional intelligence on the clinical ability of nursing interns: a structural equation model","volume":"21","author":"Dou","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Nurs"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nedt.2018.04.001","article-title":"Emotional intelligence and perceived stress of Australian pre-registration healthcare students: a multi-disciplinary cross-sectional study","volume":"66","author":"Foster","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nurse Educ. Today"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1007\/s10212-015-0254-9","article-title":"Profiles of emotional intelligence and learning strategies in a sample of Chilean students","volume":"30","author":"Garc\u00eda-Fern\u00e1ndez","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eur. J. Psychol. Educ"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1029","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2005.03.014","article-title":"An examination of the factor structure of the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence (SSREI) scale via confirmatory factor analysis","volume":"39","author":"Gignac","year":"2005","journal-title":"Pers. Individ. Dif."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101449","DOI":"10.1016\/j.intell.2020.101449","article-title":"The Dunning\u2013Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data","volume":"80","author":"Gignac","year":"2020","journal-title":"Intelligence"},{"key":"B19","volume-title":"Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ","author":"Goleman","year":"1995"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-019-1520-3","article-title":"The impact of clinical placements on the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, and business students: a longitudinal study","volume":"19","author":"Gribble","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMC Med. Educ"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1465774","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1465774","article-title":"Ability emotional intelligence profiles and real-life outcomes: a latent profile analysis of a large adult sample","volume":"16","author":"Haag","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1027\/2698-1866\/a000070","article-title":"The Kuwaiti-Arabic Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire\u2013Short Form: the adaptation and validation of the TEIQue-SF in Kuwait","volume":"5","author":"Hasan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psychol. Test Adapt. Dev"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"846","DOI":"10.1177\/1094428117744021","article-title":"Variable-centered, person-centered, and person-specific approaches: where theory meets the method","volume":"21","author":"Howard","year":"2018","journal-title":"Organ. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"106743","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nedt.2025.106743","article-title":"Effectiveness of emotional intelligence training on nurses' and nursing students' emotional intelligence, resilience, stress, and communication skills: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"151","author":"Kawashima","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nurse Educ. Today"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"788506","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.788506","article-title":"Do psychological resilience and emotional intelligence vary among stress profiles in university students? A latent profile analysis","volume":"12","author":"K\u00f6k\u00e7am","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1121","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.77.6.1121","article-title":"Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments","volume":"77","author":"Kruger","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2013.742377","article-title":"Latent class analysis with distal outcomes: a flexible model-based approach","volume":"20","author":"Lanza","year":"2013","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Modeling"},{"key":"B28","volume-title":"Stress, Appraisal, and Coping","author":"Lazarus","year":"1984"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000219","article-title":"Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: a meta-analysis","volume":"146","author":"MacCann","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3860","DOI":"10.1007\/s12144-019-00350-6","article-title":"Emotional intelligence profiles and self-concept in Chilean adolescents","volume":"40","author":"Mart\u00ednez-Monteagudo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Curr. Psychol."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1177\/1754073916639667","article-title":"The ability model of emotional intelligence: principles and updates","volume":"8","author":"Mayer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Emot. Rev"},{"key":"B32","article-title":"\u201cWhat is emotional intelligence?\u201d","volume-title":"Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications","author":"Mayer","year":"1997"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1882","DOI":"10.1037\/xge0000579","article-title":"Wise up: clarifying the role of metacognition in the Dunning\u2013Kruger effect","volume":"148","author":"McIntosh","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1037\/a0028085","article-title":"Identifying careless responses in survey data","volume":"17","author":"Meade","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"803","DOI":"10.1177\/1094428118773856","article-title":"Person-centered methodologies in the organizational sciences: introduction to the feature topic","volume":"21","author":"Morin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Organ. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"106337","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nedt.2024.106337","article-title":"Pedagogical strategies to improve emotional competencies in nursing students: a systematic review","volume":"142","author":"Napolitano","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nurse Educ. Today"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1080\/10705510701575396","article-title":"Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: a Monte Carlo simulation study","volume":"14","author":"Nylund","year":"2007","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Modeling"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"440","DOI":"10.1037\/tps0000176","article-title":"Ten frequently asked questions about latent class analysis","volume":"4","author":"Nylund-Gibson","year":"2018","journal-title":"Transl. Issues Psychol. Sci"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1116","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.01116","article-title":"The measurement of emotional intelligence: a critical review of the literature and recommendations for researchers and practitioners","volume":"10","author":"O'Connor","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B40","first-page":"2825","article-title":"Scikit-learn: machine learning in Python. J. Mach. Learn","volume":"12","author":"Pedregosa","year":"2011","journal-title":"Res"},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1754-9434.2010.01213.x","article-title":"Trait emotional intelligence theory","volume":"3","author":"Petrides","year":"2010","journal-title":"Ind. Organ. Psychol"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1002\/per.416","article-title":"Trait emotional intelligence: psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies","volume":"15","author":"Petrides","year":"2001","journal-title":"Eur. J. Pers"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1348\/000712606X120618","article-title":"The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space","volume":"98","author":"Petrides","year":"2007","journal-title":"Br. J. Psychol."},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101355","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsc.2023.101355","article-title":"Emotional intelligence and academic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"49","author":"Qu\u00edlez-Robres","year":"2023","journal-title":"Think. Skills Creat"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.2190\/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG","article-title":"Emotional intelligence","volume":"9","author":"Salovey","year":"1990","journal-title":"Imagin. Cogn. Pers."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1016\/S0191-8869(98)00001-4","article-title":"Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence","volume":"25","author":"Schutte","year":"1998","journal-title":"Pers. Individ. Dif."},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtumed.2020.09.001","article-title":"Emotional intelligence and perceived stress among students in Saudi health colleges: a cross-sectional correlational study","volume":"15","author":"Shahin","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Taibah Univ. Med. Sci"},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103445","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2020.103445","article-title":"Latent profile analysis: a review and \u201chow to\u201d guide of its application within vocational behavior research","volume":"120","author":"Spurk","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Vocat. Behav"},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.7334\/psicothema2018.33","article-title":"Using reversed items in Likert scales: a questionable practice","volume":"30","author":"Su\u00e1rez-\u00c1lvarez","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psicothema"},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"686","DOI":"10.3928\/01484834-20240614-03","article-title":"Emotional intelligence, health, and performance in nursing students: a systematic review","volume":"63","author":"Sutil-Rodr\u00edguez","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Nurs. Educ"},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1802","DOI":"10.1002\/pits.22731","article-title":"Using latent profile analysis to investigate emotional intelligence profiles in a sample of American university students","volume":"59","author":"Thomas","year":"2022","journal-title":"Psychol. Sch."},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1504\/IJWOE.2016.081841","article-title":"A latent profile analysis of trait emotional intelligence to identify beneficial and risk profiles in wellbeing and job performance: a study among Japanese eldercare nurses","volume":"7","author":"Toyama","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Work Organ. Emot"},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e68967","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0068967","article-title":"Ineffectiveness of reverse wording of questionnaire items: let's learn from cows in the rain","volume":"8","author":"van Sonderen","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"B54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"450","DOI":"10.1093\/pan\/mpq025","article-title":"Latent class modeling with covariates: two improved three-step approaches","volume":"18","author":"Vermunt","year":"2010","journal-title":"Polit. Anal."},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1453","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(07)61602-X","article-title":"The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies","volume":"370","author":"von Elm","year":"2007","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"B56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"320","DOI":"10.1037\/a0032121","article-title":"Reversed item bias: an integrative model","volume":"18","author":"Weijters","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"B57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.4135\/9781452233529.n6","article-title":"\u201cEmotional intelligence, coping with stress, and adaptation,\u201d","author":"Zeidner","year":"2006"},{"key":"B58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1207\/s15430421tip4102_2","article-title":"Becoming a self-regulated learner: an overview","volume":"41","author":"Zimmerman","year":"2002","journal-title":"Theory Pract."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1929366\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T06:31:22Z","timestamp":1787812282000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1929366\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"references-count":58,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1929366"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1929366","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"article-number":"1929366"}}