Relationship between empathic family attitude and relapse in schizophrenia: A 2-year followup prospective study

Empathy plays a central role in social relationships, and lack of empathy h as been suggested as part of expressed emotion in the relatives of patients with schizophrenia, The aim of this research is to measure empathy in the relatives of schizophrenia patients and to establish the relationship betwe en lack of empathy and relapse. Eighty schizophrenia patients were followed up in a 2-year prospective cohort study. Relatives' empathy, defined as th e ability to perceive the patient's mood state, was measured at the beginni ng of the study with a questionnaire given after a 10-minute interaction be tween the patient and his or her relative, Several other attitudinal, clini cal, and social variables were also measured, A significant relationship wa s found between poor empathic attitude and relapse. Lack of treatment compl iance, negative symptoms, unemployment, and poor premorbid adjustment were also associated with relapse. In a multivariate analysis, the association b etween poor empathic attitude and relapse was maintained. Statistical contr ol of the relatives' critical attitude showed that each kind of attitude pr edicts relapse independently.