EXPRESSED EMOTION OF FAMILIES AND NEGATIVE DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - A COHORT STUDY IN JAPAN

This study investigated whether the Expressed Emotion (EE) status of f amilies is associated with an increased risk of negative and depressiv e symptoms in schizophrenia. The subjects were 52 schizophrenic patien ts from mental hospitals in Kochi, Japan, who satisfied the DSM-III-R or ICD-9 criteria for schizophrenia. The Japanese version of the Cambe rwell Family Interview was administered to 73 key relatives of the pat ients within 2 weeks after admission. A certified rater evaluated the EE's status of each family, using an audiotaped interview and its tran script. Using cohort study design, the subjects were followed for 9 mo nths after their discharge and were monitored for negative and depress ive symptoms. Trained psychiatrists who were blind to the EE status of the patients' households administered the Brief Psychiatric Rating sc ale (BPRS) at discharge, and 9 months after discharge. Repeated-measur es analyses of variance showed that EE effects were significant in Emo tional withdrawal in ail subjects, Depressive mood and Total depressiv e symptoms in non-relapsers. A multiple regression analyses revealed t hat EE's effect was significant only in Depressive mood in non-relapse rs controlling confounding factors. In non-relapsers in positive sympt oms, high EE families could make patients depressed. EE's effect on ne gative symptoms remains to be established. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.