Author(s): Hassan Mohammed Sonbol, Mostafa Abdel-Monem Amr
Background: Emotional intelligence is widely considered a significant predictor of various outcomes related to one's health and success in life. A growing body of research supports the idea that emotional intelligence plays a role in the emergence of substance use. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the still sparse, but expanding literature on the relationship between emotional intelligence and substance use disorder through its assessment before and after rehabilitation. Methods: we assessed the emotional intelligence and self-esteem of 49 patients before and after the rehabilitation program in the inpatient department of Mansoura university hospital using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Emotional intelligence questionnaire, only the completers of the rehabilitation program (based on CBT sessions) (one and half month) and those who follow up weekly in the daycare for one and half month with negative urine screen test, were recruited to participate in this research. We obtained written informed consent from all participants then diagnosed them as patients with substance use disorder by SCID-I according to DSM5 criteria then applied a structured questionnaire to collect the sociodemographic data and the aforementioned questionnaires. Results: A statistically significant improvement in all domains of emotional intelligence while comparing pre and post-cognitive behavioral therapy (p<0.001). The highest improvement is detected for self-awareness domains (16.3%) and the mean (SD)changed from 45.24 (6.31) to 52.63 (4.65) and the lowest improvement is for the social skills domain (8.8%) with a mean (SD) of social skills from 54.35(9.35) to 59.16(7.06). Mean total emotional intelligence is changed from 246.18 to 275.86 with a percent of improvement is 12.1%, A non-statistically significant association is detected between the level of emotional intelligence and socio-demographic characteristics of the studied cases (p>0.05). A statistically significant correlation between the improvement in all domains of emotional intelligence and the improvement in self-esteem scores while comparing pre and post-cognitive behavioral therapy (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study revealed the improvement of the emotional intelligence and self-esteem of patients with substance use disorders after CBT sessions, confirming how difficult it was for them to critically assess their own emotional and social skills prior to cognitive behavioral therapy sessions and how much better they were able to do so afterward. It is crucial to describe emotional intelligence as a dynamic construct that may grow and improve throughout your life, making it a useful psycho-social tool for assisting and treating people with substance use disorders.
