title: Reciprocated self-disqualification among parents of schizophrenics.
abstract: Is deviant parental communication an interactional phenomenon? If it is, is this interaction stronger or weaker among parents of schizophrenics (S) than among parents of non-schizophrenic psychiatric controls (NS) and normals (N)? These two questions were investigated by using sequential analysis of parental interaction during Spouse Rorschach. Parents' deviant communication was measured by the self-disqualification (SD) category in the Relationship Control Coding System. Results showed that self-disqualification clearly depended on the quality of the previous parental communication: an SD utterance greatly increased the probability of an SD response from the spouse among S (n = 17), NS (n = 15) and N (n = 14). However, this increased probability was significantly higher among S parents. Furthermore, S parents' communication was significantly less dependent on their own previous communication than NS and N parents' communication was. However, the sheer magnitude of parental SD communication was a significant predictor of offspring diagnosis even when the interaction between the spouses was controlled for. Thus, the results indicate that the high rate of deviant communication among S parents is partly due to individual characteristics of the parents and partly due to reciprocation of the other spouse's deviant communication. The results are discussed with reference to possible gene-environment interaction in both schizophrenia and deviant communication.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Youth Research, Oslo.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wichstrøm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holte
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003142:Communication; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010553:Personality Development; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D014705:Verbal Behavior