We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Expressed emotion, human agency, and schizophrenia: toward a new model for the EE-relapse association.
- Authors
Breitborde, Nicholas J K; López, Steven R; Nuechterlein, Keith H
- Abstract
Although there is a clear statistical association between expressed emotion (EE) and schizophrenic relapse, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship is underdeveloped. This study tested a theoretical model in which caregivers' perceptions of their ill relative's agency underlie the EE-relapse association. To evaluate this model, we completed qualitative and quantitative analyses of narratives provided by individuals caring for a relative with schizophrenia. The results indicate that high-EE caregivers perceive the expression of symptoms as stemming from their ill relative's agency more frequently than low-EE caregivers. This was true for both high-EE-criticism and high-EE-emotional overinvolvement caregivers. High-EE and low-EE caregivers did not differ in their perceptions of the role of their ill relative's agency with regard to the control of symptoms. The findings suggest that EE may be a proxy risk factor for caregivers' perceptions of their ill relative's agency.
- Publication
Culture, medicine and psychiatry, 2009, Vol 33, Issue 1, p41
- ISSN
1573-076X
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11013-008-9119-x