Relatives' expressed emotion and the course of schizophrenia in Chandigarh: a two-year follow-up of a first-contact sample
Article Abstract:
The relationship between relatives' expressed emotion (EE) and the course of schizophrenia is well-established. It has been found in the West that expressed criticism, hostility, over-involvement, warmth, positive remarks, and a high rate of expression of these emotions by family members can influence remission and relapse. At the same time, an international study found that schizophrenic patients in northern India had a significantly better outcome than schizophrenics elsewhere in the world. It was suggested that there might be a lower proportion of high-EE ratings, possibly indicating that better outcome was associated with more tolerance by family members of the behavior of the schizophrenic. Using the subsample of schizophrenics from northern India, a study was designed to look at EE in family members during the year after diagnosis, and the course of illness over the two years after diagnosis. The purpose was to see if there was a correlation between expressed emotion and course of illness. Contradictory to initial findings of such a relationship, at one-year follow-up the significance of this correlation dropped out. There was no predictive value of EE rating for relapse over the two-year period after diagnosis. One component of EE, hostility, did remain a significant factor in relapse, however. An explanation of this fact is not attempted. It is concluded that expressed emotion is not a significant factor in relapse per se, although one component (hostility) appears to be. For this population it appears as though a more general acceptance of schizophrenic behavior by family members is an important factor in lessening relapse potential. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: British Journal of Psychiatry
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0007-1250
Year: 1990
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Gender-divergent aetiological factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Article Abstract:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the United States and it has been studied extensively, except for the effects of gender upon the condition. A study was conducted of 137 men and 170 women (average age 34.5 years) diagnosed with OCD to identify demographic and clinical characteristics. It was found that age of onset was from age 5 to 15 for men and age 26 to 35 years for women. This means that men would have a longer duration of illness than women. Fifty-four percent of men were married and 32 percent of the women were married. Fifteen percent were raised as only children, and 46 percent were first-born. The major finding of this study was that more men had childhood onset and more women had late onset of symptoms of OCD. Other literature suggests that early onset may be predictive of more severe symptoms and poor prognosis. There was also a history of anorexia nervosa in the women with OCD. It is speculated that organic (for men) or depressive (for women) factors may produce the gender effects found in these data. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: British Journal of Psychiatry
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0007-1250
Year: 1991
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