Comparison of Cognitive Flexibility and Emotional Inhabitation among Eczema Patients and Normal Individuals

Cognitive flexibility has a significant influence on emotional regulation, and eczema is one of the disorders that may be associated with emotion. The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive flexibility and emotional control among people with eczema and normal people. The present study was of causal comparative design. The statistical population included all people with eczema and people without eczema in Tehran province in 2017. Participants included 40 women with eczema who were selected from three specialized dermatology clinics in Tehran and 40 controls that were matched based on age, sex, level of education and economic status. Data were collected via Cognitive Flexibility and Emotional Inhabitation questionnaires. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and by SPSS-22 software. The mean (SD) age of patients with eczema was 32.7 (6.5), and normal participants 33 (5.5). The mean (SD) cognitive flexibility score of people with eczema was 71.6 (10.9) which was lower than the control group with a mean (SD) of 83.4 (11.7), P<0.0001. The mean (SD) emotional inhabitation score of people with eczema was 117.8 (14.5) which was higher than the control group with a mean (SD) of 90.5 (12.4), P<0.0001. The study showed that people with eczema have less cognitive flexibility and more emotional inhabitation than normal people.