Emotional Intelligence in a group of patients with first-episode psychosis in Iran

This study was aimed to evaluate the Emotional Intelligence (EI) of a group of patients with first episode psychosis in Iran as compared with a healthy control group. A case-control design was used. EI was assessed using Persian version of Bar-On Emotional Quotient inventory (EQ-i) administered on 25 patients with history of a single psychotic episode in the last two years, as well as 64 healthy participants. The mean (±SD) of EI scores of patients' and healthy controls' group was 319.8 (±40.9) and 328.8 (±33.3), respectively. Two-independent sample t-test revealed no significant difference in the EI scores of two groups (P=0.29). In contrast with chronic schizophrenia, the patients with first-episode psychosis were not different from the healthy subjects in terms of emotional intelligence score. It might be implied that the low emotional intelligence of the patients with chronic psychotic disorders is an accumulative result of the underlying disease over time.