Expressed emotion and subclinical psychopathology observable within the transactions between schizophrenic patients and their family members.
The authors examined whether young, recently discharged schizophrenic patients from high (n = 34) and low (n = 14) expressed emotion (EE) families differ in their level of subclinical symptomatology during a direct interaction task. Compared with patients from low-EE homes, patients from high-EE home showed significantly more odd and disruptive behavior with family members. High-EE relatives were more likely than low-EE relatives to respond with criticism to the first unusual thought verbalized by the patient; when this occurred, the probability of a second unusual thought was augmented. Results suggest that high-EE family members may display negative attitudes toward patients in part because they are exposed to higher levels of unusual or disruptive behavior than low-EE relatives. The data also support a bidirectional, transactional model of the relationship between relatives' EE and patients psychopathology.
Rosenfarb
I S
IS
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Goldstein
M J
MJ
Mintz
J
J
Nuechterlein
K H
KH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior