Expressed emotion, attribution, and control in parents of schizophrenic patients

Expressed emotion is a measure of an individual's critical and/or emotionally overinvolved attitudes toward another person. The characteristics of parents who are high in expressed emotion are not fully understood. This study examined some variables potentially associated with expressed emotion, as measured by the Camberwell Family Interview, in 54 parents of schizophrenic young adults. Statements of (1) self-blame for the patient's illness, (2) controlling behaviors toward the patient, and (3) controlling behaviors toward others were assessed. As predicted, parents who blamed themselves for the patient's illness had higher emotional overinvolvement ratings than non-self-blaming parents. Measures of controlling behavior revealed that highly critical parents were not more controlling than less critical parents; however, parents high in emotional overinvolvement reported higher levels of patient- and other-controlling behaviors than parents low in emotional overinvolvement. These results suggest that the emotional overinvolvement component of high expressed emotion is associated with self-blaming attributions and controlling behaviors in parents, but that the criticism component is not.