THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EXPRESSED EMOTION, AFFECTIVE STYLE AND COMMUNICATION DEVIANCE IN RECENT-ONSET SCHIZOPHRENIA

The relationships between expressed emotion (EE), affective style (AS) and communication deviance (CD) were studied during hospitalization a nd after discharge. EE was measured with both the Camberwell Family In terview (CFI) and the Five-Minutes Speech Sample (FMSS). The study sub jects were patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and related disord ers, who were consecutively admitted to an in-patient unit for adolesc ents, and their parents. The results revealed that CFI/EE was signific antly correlated with AS criticism scores during hospitalization, but did not predict AS scores after discharge. FMSS/EE correlated signific antly with AS criticism when both measures were administered after dis charge. During hospitalization, FMSS/EE was not significantly correlat ed with AS. No consistent relationship was found between CD and both a ffective factors (EE and AS). It is concluded that EE and AS overlap w ith regard to level of criticism when both measures are administered o ver a short period of time and independent of the time of assessment. In addition, the results indicate that affective and communication fac tors identify independent family attributes.