Are executive functions related to emotional intelligence? A correlational study in schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder

Highlights

• People with SZ or BPD showed deficits in both cognitive and emotional functions.

• Executive functions only correlated with the Strategic area of emotional intelligence measured by the MSCEIT.

• SZ group showed an attentional impairment related to the EI deficit.

• BPD group presented a relation between the management branch of the strategic EI and a working memory deficit.

Abstract

This research explored the relationship between executive functions (working memory and reasoning subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Trail Making and Stroop tests, fluency and planning tasks, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) and emotional intelligence measured by the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test in patients with schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder compared to a control group. As expected, both clinical groups performed worse than the control group in executive functions and emotional intelligence, although the impairment was greater in the borderline personality disorder group. Executive functions significantly correlated with social functioning. Results are discussed in relation to the brain circuits that mediate executive functions and emotional intelligence and the findings obtained with other models of social cognition.

Introduction

Executive functions (EF) and social cognition, including emotional intelligence (EI), are impaired in several psychopathological disorders. For example, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is being increasingly used as a measure of social cognition in schizophrenia (SZ) (Nuechterlein and Green, 2006) and has started to be applied to other mental diseases, with different results. In fact, the MSCEIT has detected deficits in nearly all components of emotional processing in schizophrenia (Dawson et al., 2012, Tso et al., 2014, Hooker et al., 2013, Wojtalik et al., 2013) but fewer deficits in borderline personality disorder (BPD) (Pastuszak, 2012).

Regarding neurocognition, the neuropsychological profile of SZ has been better described than that of BPD and usually involves dysfunction in EF (Bilder et al., 1992, Riley et al., 2000, Sánchez, 2008). Recent studies have also highlighted deficits in EF in BPD patients (Bazanis et al., 2002, Meyer-Lindenberg, 2010, Ruocco, 2005).

It seems that both SZ and BPD share some clinical features, neuroanatomical circuits and significant comorbidity (Jørgensen et al., 1997, Meyer-Lindenberg, 2010). However, most studies have been conducted with both populations separately and with samples differing in demographic variables, severity of the condition and temporal evolution. In many cases, different neuropsychological assessment protocols are also used, often with no control group. This hampers the comparison of data between studies. In addition, there is little research on the relationship between EI and neurocognition, an issue that is still being discussed in the literature on the subject with a view to psychosocial rehabilitation (Pickup, 2008, Gavilán and García-Albea, 2015).

The aim of this research was to contribute to determine the profile of executive dysfunction and EI deficits in both SZ and BPD samples matched on a number of variables that may affect the study (i.e., age, educational level, severity of the disorder and course of the disease). We also intended to explore whether there is a relationship between performance in executive functions and social cognition.