NONVERBAL INTERACTIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE FAMILIES OF PERSONS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIC AND BIPOLAR DISORDERS

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.