[The family's emotional environment and social skill level in schizophrenia]

This paper describes the influence of family environment of schizophrenic patients upon their social skills. Patients from different families exhibit deficits in different kinds of interactions with other people. The family emotional environment in the study was described with Expressed Emotion Index. The index was evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. The determination of dependence of specific social skills upon the characteristics of the family emotional environment made explicit therapeutic programs for the patients and their families possible.