EXPRESSED EMOTION AND THE COURSE OF LATE-LIFE DEPRESSION

This study examined rates of expressed emotion (EE) indexed by the Fiv e Minute Speech Sample (FMSS; A. B. Magana et al., 1986) in adult chil dren or spouses of 54 elderly patients hospitalized for major depressi ve disorder. It also examined whether EE was related to course of psyc hiatric illness in these elderly patients over 1 year. Among the famil y members, 40% were classified as high EE. EE was not significantly re lated to relapse in the total sample, However, there was an interactio n between EE and relationship to the patient (i.e., spouse or adult ch ild) on 1-year clinical outcomes of the elderly. Among adult children earing. Tor older patients, high-EE status predicted higher rates of p atient relapse and lower rates of complete and sustained recovery from depression than low EE. In contrast, there was a trend association am ong spouses between high EE and lower rates of relapse as well us high er rates of complete and sustained recovery.