Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:17:01.397Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Expressed Emotion Trait or State?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Judith L. Schreiber ,
Alan Breier  and
David Pickar
Judith L. Schreiber*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Alan Breier
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
David Pickar
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
*
Judith L. Schreiber, LCSW, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH 10/4N212, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

This exploratory study addresses the question of whether expressed emotion (EE) is a response characteristic of the parent (trait) or a parental response to specific circumstances or persons (state).

Method

Seventeen parents participated in two audiotaped interviews, using modified versions of the Camberwell Family Interview. One interview concerned the child with chronic schizophrenia and the other a well sibling. Subsequent ratings of the EE variables of critical comments (CC), emotional overinvolvement (EOI) and warmth were completed and compared.

Results

E response patterns directed towards patients, as compared with towards siblings, were significantly different on two measures: EOI (P=0.01) and warmth (P=0.02). The parents showed significantly more emotional overinvolvement with the child with schizophrenia and significantly more warmth towards the well child.

Conclusions

These data suggest that the EE variables of EOI and warmth are related to the state of child, and the lack of a significant difference in CC suggests that this is a parental trait.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 166 , Issue 5 , May 1995 , pp. 647 - 649
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, G. W. (1985) The discovery of expressed emotion: induction or deduction. In Expressed Emotion in Families (eds J. Leff & C. Vaughn), pp. 7–25. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Monck, E. M., Carstairs, G. M., et al (1962) Influence of family life on the course of schizophrenic illness. British Journal of Preventive Social Medicine, 16, 55–68.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Birley, J. L. T. & Wing, J. K. (1972) Influence of family life on the course of schizophrenic disorders: a replication. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 241–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, R., Kane, C., Zastowny, T., et al (1993) Expressed emotion communication and problem solving in the families of chronic schizophrenic young adults. In How Do Families Cope With Chronic Illness (eds R. Cole & D. Reiss), pp. 141–172. New Jersey: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hibbs, E. D., Hamburger, S. D., Kruesi, M. J., et al (1993) Factors affecting expressed emotion in parents of ill and normal children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63, 103–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenigsberg, H. W., Klausner, E., Pelino, D., et al (1993) Expressed emotion and glucose control in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1114–1115.Google ScholarPubMed
Schreiber, J., Breier, A. & Pickar, D. (1990) Referral patterns and patient selection for a schizophrenia research ward. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 41, 441–443.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L. & Endicott, J. (1975) Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Lifetime Version. New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute Biometrics Research Division.Google Scholar
Vaughn, C. E. & Leff, J. P. (1976) The influence of family and social factors on the course of psychiatric illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129, 125–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.