title: Expressed emotion and attributions in the relatives of bipolar patients: an analysis of problem-solving interactions.
abstract: Among the relatives of schizophrenic and depressed patients, high expressed emotion (EE) attitudes are associated with "controllability attributions" about the causes of patients' symptoms and problem behaviors. However, previous studies have judged EE attitudes and causal attributions from the same assessment measure, the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI; C. E. Vaughn & J. P. Leff, 1976). The authors examined causal attributions among relatives of 47 bipolar patients, as spontaneously expressed to patients in family problem-solving interactions during a postillness period. Relatives rated high EE during the patients' acute episode (based on the CFI) were more likely than relatives rated low EE to spontaneously attribute patients' symptoms and negative behaviors to personal and controllable factors during the postillness interactional assessment. Thus, the EE-attribution linkage extends to the relatives of bipolar patients evaluated during a family interaction task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0345, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wendel
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Miklowitz
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: George
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011340:Problem Solving; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors