Work

Expressed emotion and sociocultural moderation in the course of schizophrenia.

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: This study examined whether the sociocultural context moderates the relationship between families' expressed emotion (EE) and clinical outcomes in schizophrenia. In a sample of 60 Mexican American caregivers and their ill relatives, we first assessed whether EE and its indices (criticism, emotional overinvolvement [EOI], and warmth) related to relapse. Second, we extended the analysis of EE and its indices to a longitudinal assessment of symptomatology. Last, we tested whether bidimensional acculturation moderated the relationship between EE (and its indices) and both relapse and symptom trajectory over time. Results indicated that EOI was associated with increased relapse and that criticism was associated with increased symptomatology. Additionally, as patients' Mexican enculturation (Spanish language and media involvement) decreased, EE was increasingly related to relapse. For symptomatology, as patients' U.S. acculturation (English language and media involvement) increased, EE was associated with increased symptoms longitudinally. Our results replicate and extend past research on how culture might shape the way family factors relate to the course of schizophrenia.

Source: Journal of Abnormal Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/a0020908

Authors: Adrian Aguilera, Steven R. López, Nicholas J. K. Breitborde, Alex Kopelowicz, Roberto Zarate

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, University of Southern California, University of Arizona, University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Family Caregiving in Mental Illness

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, Life Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles