Schizophrenia outpatients' perceptions of their parents: Is expressed emotion a factor?

The factors that mediate the association between expressed emotion (EE) and relapse in schizophrenia patients are still unknown. Many researchers hypo thesize that interactions with high-EE individuals are stressful for patien ts, leaving them vulnerable to relapse. It would be useful to investigate w hether patients perceive interactions with high-EE parents as stressful. In this study, associations were examined between levels of EE in parents and the types of personal memories patients had about these parents. EE rating s were obtained for both parents of 27 schizophrenia outpatients, and patie nts were asked to describe "happy, nonstressful" memories and "unhappy, str essful" memories during 2 interviews. Patients recounted fewer nonstressful memories and more stressful memories about high-versus low-EE parents. Imp lications of these results are discussed.