Parenting and Schizophrenia: An Australian Study of Expressed Emotion

Abstract

Parents of 66 schizophrenic Sydney patients were interviewed using the abbreviated Camberwell Family Interview (CFI). Using preestablished criteria, 71% of the mothers, 58% of the fathers and 74% of the households were categorised as being of high expressed emotion (EE) status. Comparison is made with published data on the CFI and on EE categorisation for similar groups studied in England, the United States and India. The Sydney families were described as ‘vocal, ambitious and aggressive’, and EE scale scores more resembled the Los Angeles families than the British families originally studied. A number of factors influencing high EE categorisation (e.g., family intactness, socio-demographic variables) are noted.