Relation between Emotional Recognition, Attachment Styles and Social Functioning among Psychiatric Patients

Background: The relation between emotional recognition, attachment styles, and social functioning among psychiatric patients is a complex interplay that significantly impacts their overall mental health and quality of life. Aim: This study aimed to explore the relation between emotional recognition, attachment styles and social functioning among psychiatric patients. Subjects and Method: A descriptive correlational research design was used. The study subjects included a purposive sample of 121 psychiatric patients’ admitted the inpatient units and outpatient clinic at Port Said Psychiatric Health Hospital. Tools of data collection: The tools following were utilized: The Bell-Lysaker emotion recognition task, Penn emotion recognition text, psychosis attachment measure, social functioning scale, in addition to personal and clinical characteristics sheet. Results: According to the study's findings, the mean emotional recognition score of psychiatric patients indicated good emotional recognition, while less than three quarters had intermediate attachment styles, and the majority had poor levels of social functioning. It found that there were no statistically significant association between emotional recognition, attachment styles, and social functioning. Conclusion: Nonetheless, no statistically significant association was observed among the psychiatric patients' total scores for emotional recognition, attachment styles, and social functioning. Recommendations: Educational intervention program aimed at improving emotional recognition and modifying maladaptive attachment styles to enhance social functioning are recommended.