Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Post-traumatic Stress

The goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the sample of Georgian internally displaced persons (IDPs) (as a group who has experienced potentially traumatic events). A total of 200 internally displaced persons (100 men and 100 women) were administered with (1) Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) (Petrides, 2009) along with (2) The Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES-R) (Weiss & Marmar, 1997) and (3) A short questionnaire assessing socio-demographic characteristics, the nature of the trauma and post-war changes in their life. The results of the study show that the trait EI global score is predictor for PTSD. The trait EI self-control factor has predictive value for PTSD. Trait EI facets, specifically self-esteem and emotion regulation, are also PTSD predictors. The results show also that PTSD symptoms are effected by the character and nature of the trauma, in particular, people who experienced the death of close relatives or family members reported more PTSD symptoms then those who did not have such experience, but the level of trauma exposure (the number of days spent in a conflict zone) was not correlated with the severity of the post-traumatic stress. Traumatic events had a greater impact on women than on men, and affected older people more than youths. There were no significant differences in post-traumatic stress scores between IDPs living in collective centers and those residing in the so-called new settlements. The implications RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS Khatuna Martskvishvili Khatuna Martskvishvili of these findings for using the trait emotional intelligence as a predictor for individuals who may experience traumatic stress and for working out the recommendations for developing emotional intelligence and coping training modules and psychological service projects for IDPs are discussed.