Racial and gender differences in expressed emotion and interpersonal control in families of persons with schizophrenia

Expressed Emotion (EE) has been shown to be predictive of course or severit y in many illnesses, but the studies have been largely of white middle-clas s patients. This study examined gender and racial differences in parental E E level and communication patterns between the parent and patient with schi zophrenia, using data from the NIMH Treatment Strategies in Schizophrenia s tudy. Dialogues (n = 140) from 54 patient-parent dyads were coded into the Relational Control Coding System. Resultant data (n = 13,605 sequences) wer e analyzed with log-linear models. Results show that the relationship betwe en control and EE level was stronger in African American families compared to Caucasians. Gender differences were as expected with daughters less comp etitive and more deferential to their parents. Although the total number of high-EE parents with daughters was small, patterns in these families showe d parents who responded submissively in contrast to the competitive symmetr y in families with male patients.