The predictive capacity of perceived expressed emotion as a dynamic entity of adolescents from the general community.
BACKGROUND
In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that high parental expressed emotion (EE) is predictive of depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms of adolescents. Two issues have received much less prominence in EE research, these being studies of adolescent perceived EE and the measurement of the EE as a dynamic, developmental construct. This 4-year, three-wave, longitudinal study of perceived EE of adolescents from the general community examines if adolescent perceived EE measured with the traditional, one-measurement EE approach as well as adolescent perceived EE measured with a repeated measured, dynamic EE approach can predict adolescent depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms.


METHODS
Dutch adolescents (N = 285; 51% girls; M = 13 years) from the general community were prospectively studied annually for 4 years. At all waves, the adolescents completed the Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE) questionnaire and at the final wave also completed self-rated measures of depressive, aggressive and delinquent symptoms. Growth models were used to predict adolescent symptoms from adolescent perceived EE.


RESULTS
Growth models significantly predicted adolescent depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms from adolescent perceived EE.


CONCLUSIONS
This study of the LEE demonstrates that developmental characteristics of EE are predictive of adolescents' symptoms. These findings hold implications for current EE intervention therapies and the conceptualization of EE.
Hale
William W
WW
Research Center Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands. b.hale@uu.nl
Raaijmakers
Quinten A W
QA
van Hoof
Anne
A
Meeus
Wim H J
WH
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception