Fusion in the parent relationship of schizophrenics

Parents of schizophrenics have increasingly been included in the treatment of their offspring, either in psychoeducational oriented approaches (Anderson et al. 1980) or in regular family therapy (Hoffman 1981). However, the success of such interventions may depend on the nature of the parental relationship. Furthermore, in designing treatment programs for schizophrenics that include their parents, the particularities of the parental relationship need to be taken into account. Hence, descriptions of the relationship between parents of schizophrenics should be valuable for the clinician. Providing such descriptions is the general aim of the present study.