Expressed emotion and caregiver burden in patients with schizophrenia

Family's expressed emotion has been shown to be predictive of outcome in mental and physical illnesses in a variety of cultural settings. The relationship between caregiver burden and high level of expressed emotions has demonstrated a high level of relapse among the psychiatric patients in the West.

The current study explores the relationship between caregivers' burden and level of expressed emotions by the patients with schizophrenia in Indian setting.

The sample for the study consisted of totally 70 subjects comprising 35 schizophrenic patients and 35 caregivers. The schizophrenic patients who were attending the Day Care Center run by Department of Psychiatric and Neuro Rehabilitation Unit at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India (a tertiary care center) and their primary caregivers were included. Family emotional involvement and criticism scale and The burden assessment schedule were administered to assess the expressed emotions and caregivers' burden. Carl Pearson Correlation test used to study the relationship between the variables.

The study highlighted the need for addressing expressed emotion in comprehensive psychosocial intervention plan. More attention should be paid to the needs of the caregivers in order to alleviate their burden in managing mentally ill patients.