EE

• What is expressed emotion

  -This is a communication style in which members of a family of a schizophrenic patient talk about the patient in a critical and or hostile manner; or in a way that suggests an over-involvement or over concern with the patient and their behaviour.
• Kuipers found that

  -high EE relations talk more and listen less
• How does high levels of EE affect relapse rates 


  -a patient returning to a high EE family are four times more likely to relapse than those returning to a family low in EE
• This suggests that people with SZ have a low

  -tolerance for intense emotional comments and interaction with family members. 

  -The negative climate in these families leads to the patient experiencing stress beyond their limited coping mechanisms; thusly triggering an episode.
• Evidence to support EE was found in a study of

  -the relapse rates among schizophrenics in Iran, Kalafi and Torabi (1996) found that the high prevalence of EE in Iranian culture

  -(overprotective mothers, rejecting fathers).
• This suggests that

  -schizophrenia can be linked to aspects of the family environment as over-protectiveness is a characteristic of a schizophrenogenic maternal figure whilst a negative emotional climate would link to one that is high in expressed emotion. 
• Further support high levels of EE has led to an effective form of

  -family therapy where high-EE relatives are shown how to reduce levels of expressed emotion. Hogarty et al (1991) found that such therapy can significantly reduce relapse rates, the fact that this therapy works is

  evidence that SZ can be caused byhigh levels of EE.