Expressed emotion and social function

We examined whether expressed emotion (EE) influenced the social functioning of schizophrenia. Twenty-nine subjects meeting the diagnostic criteria of ICD-9 or DSM-III-R participated in the study. The Camberwell Family Interview was conducted to evaluate EE, and subjects were divided into high EE and low EE groups. The subjects had been followed up for 9 months and their social functioning was compared between the two groups as assessed with the Katz Adjustment Scales. In the high EE group, levels of both performance of socially-expected activities and free-time activities slightly declined at follow-up. In contrast, those in the low EE group improved and the score increase in the level of performance of socially-expected activities was significant (P < 0.05). We confirmed the relationship of families' EE status with social functioning in schizophrenia. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.