Patient Psychopathology and Parental Expressed Emotion in Schizophrenia Revisited

Abstract

Research with Expressed Emotion (EE) showed a high profile score to be associated with psychiatric disturbance. Kavanagh (1992) found 21 percent of patients from low EE families and 48 percent from high EE families to experience a psychotic relapse within a year after discharge. Up to now the meaning that should be attributed to the relation between psychotic relapse and EE (Hooley et al., 1987) is still unclear. Some think the parental EE score to reflect the patient’s severity of pathology (Glynn et al., 1990; MacMillan et al., 1987; Parker et al., 1988). but Miklowitz et al. (1983) could not substantiate this hypothesis. Goldstein et al. (1994) found patients from high EE homes to show significantly more odd and disruptive behaviors than those from low EE families. The latter ones were more anxious and fearful. This hypothesis was supported by research of Rosenfarb et al. (1995). In this research it was also suggested that there is some reciprocity in behaviors of high EE parents and their psychotic offspring: being exposed to higher levels of odd and disruptive behaviors of their offspring elicits higher levels of criticism and/or overinvolvement.