Cross-national reliability, concurrent validity, and stability of a brief method for assessing expressed emotion.
The Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS; Magana et al., 1986) is a brief method designed to assess the "expressed emotion" (EE) status of a respondent. The FMSS-EE rating is derived from statements made by a patient's key relative during a 5-minute monologue, with codes similar to those used in the original EE rating system (e.g., criticism and emotional overinvolvement). Rating is done from the audiotape and takes about 15-30 minutes. The article reports on the results of a cross-national study carried out in Germany using the FMSS with a sample of 60 relatives of schizophrenic patients. Results indicated that (1) German investigators could readily learn the system and could achieve a high degree of interrater reliability; (2) the association with the original index of EE, the Camberwell Family Interview, was comparable to that found by Magana et al.; and (3) the method yields very stable data over a 4-5 week retest period.
Leeb
B
B
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
Hahlweg
K
K
Goldstein
M J
MJ
Feinstein
E
E
Mueller
U
U
Dose
M
M
Magana-Amato
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012931:Social Environment