Tl. Simoneau et al., NONVERBAL INTERACTIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE FAMILIES OF PERSONS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIC AND BIPOLAR DISORDERS, Family process, 35(1), 1996, pp. 83-102
Whereas verbal interactional behaviors have been repeatedly found to d
istinguish the families of persons with and without major psychiatric
disorders, there has been comparatively little examination of the disc
riminative value of nonverbal interactional behaviors. We developed th
e Nonverbal Interactional Coding System to measure ''affiliative'' and
''distancing'' nonverbal behaviors in 18 schizophrenic and 18 bipolar
patients and their parents during 10-minute interactions conducted du
ring a posthospital period. Bipolar patients and their parents display
ed affiliative nonverbal behaviors (''illustrator gestures'' or ''pros
ocial behaviors'') for longer durations than schizophrenic patients an
d their parents. In contrast, parents of schizophrenic patients displa
yed distancing nonverbal behaviors (looking away) for longer durations
than those of bipolar patients. The nonverbal interactional data adde
d to the statistical strength of patients' and parents' verbal interac
tional data in distinguishing between these diagnostic groups. Nonverb
al interactional behaviors are important variables to consider in inte
rventions aimed at improving the communication skills of families copi
ng with psychiatric disorders.