Our analyses indicate that characteristics of the parent and of the parent-patient dyad seem to be the most important determinants of EOI. EOI is probably not linked to psychotic relapse, but rather to affective disturbances in the patient.

Relatives' distress was related to their reports of problematic patient behaviours, especially anxiety-depressive behaviour, not to symptoms as measured by clinical interviews. High distress is related to high expressed emotion, suggesting that relatives' report of patient's behaviour should be addressed to improve patient's outcome.

No abstract

Our analyses indicate that relatives' guilt proneness may be a determinant of their criticism, hostility and emotional overinvolvement towards a schizophrenic family member. This personality trait should be taken into account in family work which aims at modifying relatives' expressed emotion.