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Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: May 15, 2016
Expressed Emotion in relatives of persons with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Roxanne Safavi1, Katherine Berry1, Alison Wearden1
1a Department of Clinical Psychology , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
Objectives:
Expressed Emotion (EE) refers to a number of key aspects of interpersonal relationships which have been shown to relate to outcomes in relatives of people with health conditions.
Design:
A systematic review and meta-analysis of EE and outcomes in relatives of persons with dementia is reported. Potential research studies were identified via a search of three electronic databases; PsychINFO, MEDLINE and the Web of Science between 1960 and 2015.
Results:
We reviewed 12 studies investigating correlations between EE and well-being in relatives of patients with dementia. Factors hypothesised to influence EE including attributions, social support, coping strategies and relationship quality were also reviewed.
Conclusion:
High-EE relatives were found to have increased levels of burden (Z = 6.967, P < 0.001) and greater levels of depression (Z = 5.842, P < 0.001). Compared to low-EE relatives, high-EE relatives were more likely to attribute the patient's problems to factors that were personal to and controllable by the patient. Relatives with less social support, inefficient coping strategies and a poor relationship with the patients, were more likely to be classified as high-EE.
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