NEGATIVE EMOTION AS PREDICTOR OF RELAPSE IN PERSONS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA LIVING IN BOARD AND CARE HOMES

Negative emotion exhibited by the board and care providers toward resi dents, resident behavior, medication dosage, medication noncompliance, and gender were used to predict resident relapse over a 6-month perio d. Relapse was defined as movement to a higher, more intensive level o f care. Eighty-four residents with a diagnosis of chronic schizophreni a disorder, living in board and care homes in the Fresno, California, area participated in the study. Board and care providers were intervie wed using Kreisman's Patient Rejection Scale and Gurel's Behavior Rati ng Scale. Neither patient rejection nor resident behavior was predicti ve of relapse; however, medication noncompliance did predict relapse w ith the male residents and lower medication dose predicted relapse wit h the female residents. Rejection of the patient by the board and care operator was found to correlate .73 and .64 with negative behavior of the male and female residents respectively. Implications of these res ults for expressed emotion research were discussed.