THE ROLE OF FAMILIES OF SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS - WHAT IS BEYOND THE EXPRESSED EMOTION CONCEPT

The concept of expressed emotion is nearly 40 years old. In this paper the historical development and the methodology of its assessment are described. There is no doubt about the predictive validity of the leve l of EE with regard to schizophrenic relapse. This is predominantly tr ue for patients with a longer history of illness, and less for other v ariables of the course of illness. There are multiple correlations bet ween EE and patients' characteristics, mostly corresponding to an inte ractive model. This leads to the aspect of the burden on and the react ions of the relatives. These have to be noted and taken into account w hen planning the therapeutic procedures. Only when relatives are activ ely involved in the treatment the relapse prevention of schizophrenic psychoses is effective. Within the treatment procedure this helps the relatives to cope better and helps relieve their distress.