[The family emotional involvement and criticism scale]

The construct of expressed emotion is regarded as one of the most important predictors of the course of schizophrenia and has also proven to be a predictor of the course of depressive disorders, psychosomatic disorders and physical illness. Despite its clinical significance, the utility of the EE-construct has been limited since measurement by interview is time-consuming, and to date only applicable to psychotic illness. Questionnaires as a practicable alternative to the structured interview are also mostly applicable solely to psychotic disorders. One exception is the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale (FEICS, Shields et al.). This questionnaire allows a general assessment of EE and thus a practical application of EE to the general area of family research. In a sample of n = 202 patients, the German version of this instrument proved to be reliable in our research. The two-factor structure of the original American version was replicated. We found good correlation between the measured factors, and clinical and other diagnostic markers particular to family pathology. This questionnaire is therefore a brief, reliable and valid instrument for measuring EE in many disorders.