UC Irvine

Psychotic disorders are associated with significant impairment in psychosocial functioning, yet mechanisms associated with this impairment remain poorly understood. Emotional intelligence, a component of social cognition, is associated with psychosocial functioning in this population. However, prior work has used relatively small samples, reported inconsistent relations between functioning domains and emotional intelligence, and inconsistently considered negative symptoms. To address these limitations, we examined the predictive ability of emotional intelligence on functional outcomes using a five-year longitudinal design. We used a large sample of individuals with and without psychotic disorder diagnoses (N = 324), a highly reliable performance-based measure of emotional intelligence, and three measures of functioning (i.e., social performance, social and occupational functioning, global disability). Results revealed individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder to have lower emotional intelligence than those without a history of psychosis. Further, emotional intelligence was associated with each functional outcome in those with a psychotic disorder and with social performance and social and occupational functioning in those without a history of psychosis. After controlling for negative symptoms in those with a psychotic disorder, emotional intelligence was a small-to-moderate predictor of social performance (β = .36) and social and occupational functioning (β = .21), and a weak predictor of global disability (β = -.08). Overall, findings support the use of emotional intelligence as a longitudinal predictor of social and occupational outcomes above and beyond negative symptoms alone. This work highlights potential, specific intervention targets for individuals with psychotic disorders.