Family environment and expressed emotion in patients with schizophrenia or other psychoses and in their first-degree relatives

Introduction. Family has always been considered a key milestone for the development of the human psyche. Furthermore, in relationship with mental disorders we know that certain aspects of family environment change the course of some of these disorders. This study has aimed to compare the family sestting perception of schizophrenic patients vs. other psychotic patients, their first-degree relatives and to see if the expression of the disorder is related with that perception. Method. The study included 112 subjects: 41 patients, 41 first-degree relatives and 30 normal controls. Patients were included in the group of as schizophrenic (n = 24) or non-schizophrenic psychosis (n = 17) following DSM-IV criteria diagnosis using the SCAN interview and were evaluated with the Family Environment Scale (FES) and PANSS. Descriptive analysis, group comparisons and correlation studies were used as statistical methods. Results. No statistically significant differences were found when comparing FES between both group of patients, nor between patients and relatives, although psychotic patients presented a tendency to score higher on almost all the FES scales and dimensions. We found significantly positive correlations between patients and their own relatives in the FES scales. Conclusions. Although not with statistical significance, non-schizophrenic psychotic patients and their relatives have a slightly different family environment perception than their schizophrenic counterparts: more conflictivity; more rule strictness and more planning needs. High levels of expressed emotion were related with a predominance of positive symptoms in psychotic patients.