Background: Impairment of emotional intelligence among university students leads to the emergence of psychosomatic symptoms that are characterized by physical-bodily complaints and primarily aggravated by some form of emotional or mental stress. Aim: Assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychosomatic disorders among Egyptian university students in rural and urban areas.
Methodology: Descriptive correlational comparative study. Convenience sampling included 100 males and female students. Three tools were used, (1) structured interviewing questionnaire regarding demographic characteristics, (2) emotional intelligence scale, and (3) Cornell index to assess psychosomatic disorders.


Results: There is a statistically significant inverse correlation between emotional intelligence and psychosomatic disorders in rural and urban areas. There are no differences in emotional intelligence between rural and urban areas. There are statistically significant differences in psychosomatic disorders between Egyptian university students in rural and urban areas in favor of urban areas, where the urban average was (108.95) and the rural average was (87.0). There are statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence between male and female Egyptian university students in favor of males, where the average score of males reached (44,169) and the average score of females was (35.928). There are statistically significant differences in psychosomatic disorders between male and female Egyptian university students in favor of females, where the average score for females reached (131.32) and the average for males was (87.93).
Conclusion: Psychosomatic disorders are influenced by emotional intelligence.
Recommendation: Training program should be conducted among university students to improve their emotional intelligence skills and improve their ability to manage emotion and life stressors.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Psychosomatic Disorders, Egyptian Universities.