Introduction

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a fundamental requirement to maintaining social activity. Patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis have difficulties in emotional awareness.

Objectives

The objective of this study is to assess EI in patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.

Methods

Patients with psoriasis n=67, atopic dermatitis n=59 and control group n=65 were included in cross-sectional study.

EI and its main components (experiential: perceiving emotions and using emotions to facilitate thought; strategic: understanding emotions and managing emotions to promote personal growth and social relations) were assessed using The Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test 2.0.

Statistical analyses were performed using One-Way ANOVA and One-Way ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis test). The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05.Data are presented as the Me (±SD).

Results

Our results show that there is statistically significant lower “strategic” component of EI for psoriasis Me=0.367 (±0.0455) and atopic dermatitis Me=0.369 (±0.0353) than for the control group Me= 0.381(±0.0361), (χ2 =7.15; p= 0.028).

“Managing emotions to promote personal growth and social relations” is presented with statistically significant lower for psoriasis Me= 0,293 (±0.0374) and atopic dermatitis Me= 0.301 (±0.0351) than for the control group Me= 0.312 (±0.0272), (F=0.05; p=0.007).

There is no statistically significant difference between other components of EI and the EI scores in three groups.

Conclusions

Patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis have emotional difficulties when it comes to making effective decisions.