Expressed emotion and communication deviance in the families of schizophrenics.

Investigated the relation between 2 measures of family communication, intrafamilial expressed emotion (EE) and communication deviance (CD). Ss were 205 relatives of recently episodic schizophrenics from 3 samples collected in the US and the UK. Ss were rated according to their participation in a family interview. Findings indicate that high-EE relatives had higher levels of CD than did low-EE relatives in all 3 samples. When high-EE relatives were subdivided according to the specific EE attitude they manifested (i.e., criticism and/or emotional overinvolvement), those relatives showing emotionally overinvolved attitudes exhibited the highest levels of CD and were consistently separable from low-EE relatives on the CD measure. The potential impact that high-EE/high-CD environments may have on schizophrenic patients is discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)