RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of cancer patients must have strong emotional intelligence skills essential for understanding one's and others' feelings and learning how to cope. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to determine the predictive factors of emotional intelligence and its relationship with spiritual intelligence, coping, and knowledge and experience about pain among family caregivers of cancer patients in Iran. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in 2020-2021. Two hundred twenty-six family caregivers of cancer patients participated in this study. The data collection tools were Wong and Law's emotional intelligence, King's spiritual intelligence, Brief Cope, and the family pain questionnaire. Following determining the variables' correlation, linear regression was carried out. RESULTS: Emotional intelligence had a significant correlation with age (r = 0.20, p = .003), academic degree (r = 0.15, p = .032), duration of care (r = 0.15, p = .032), and spiritual intelligence (r = 0.30, p < .001). The regression model accounted for 12.4% of the variance in emotional intelligence; age (ß = 0.16, p < .021) and spiritual intelligence (ß = 0.26, p < .001) were significant explanatory variables. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional intelligence is correlated with age, academic degree, duration of care, and spiritual intelligence, but only age and spiritual intelligence were found to be predictive factors for emotional intelligence in the family caregivers of cancer patients.