Emotional intelligence as an indicator of cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia

Aim: to analyze the variability of emotional intelligence as an indicator of cognitive functioning in groups of patients with schizophrenia, depending on the duration of the disease, the duration of treatment and the treatment regimen used. Material and Methods. A total of 420 patients with a clinical diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia were examined. All patients were divided into groups according to the duration of the disease and the therapy. The research included the medical documentation analyses and the application of «Ekman''s Faces» psychodiagnostic scale. Results. There was an improvement of the indicator in the group of primary patients receiving treatment with atypical antipsychotics in combination with rehabilitation. Conclusion. The obtained data allows to make a conclusion about the effect of the duration of the disease, the observation, and also the nature of the conducted therapy on the variability of the emotional intelligence indicator in patients with a paranoid form of schizophrenia and may be used to select a psychotherapeutic algorithm for this category of patients. The obtained results prove the necessity of using questionnaire for emotional intelligence «Ekman''s faces» and specific therapy in the early stages of the disease.