Patient psychopathology and expressed emotion in schizophrenia

Article Abstract:

Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of the quality of relationships within families. EE assesses relatives' critical and hostile feelings towards each other, as well as tendencies toward emotional overinvolvement. High EE ratings (emotions expressed by the relatives) have been associated with high relapse rates in schizophrenic patients. The relationship between schizophrenic patients' symptoms and relatives' EE was investigated among 40 male veterans of the armed forces with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who had, at the time of the study, recently suffered a relapse. The patients were of various different ethnic backgrounds, and their average age was 30.5 years. The 40 relatives included in the study were fathers (five), mothers (20), spouses (seven), siblings (six) and one uncle. Of the 40 relatives, 26 had high EE scores. Patients from high-EE families demonstrated significantly more delusions (but not more hallucinations or thought disorders) and more anxious depression than those from low-EE families. There were no significant correlations found between relatives' EE ratings and patients' negative, or deficit, symptoms (such as social withdrawal, flattened emotions, or poverty of speech). The number of critical comments made by relatives was significantly related to tendencies in patients toward thought disorganization, delusions, hallucinations, and anxious depression. The frequency of critical comments made by relatives was also found to be significantly related to patients' inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia) or to socialize comfortably. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Social aspects, Schizophrenia

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Mentally retarded criminal offenders in Denmark

Article Abstract:

In Denmark, mentally retarded individuals who commit crimes are not punished by penal incarceration, but are placed under a community care order or institutionalized. To determine the factors responsible for an apparent decrease in the total number of retarded offenders serving care orders, as well as to identify which factors might be predictive of criminal activity, statistics from the Danish Central Criminal Register for the period 1973-84 were analyzed. A total of 274 offenders were reported for this time period. Only 17 of the offenders were women, and the average age at time of sentencing was 34 years. The number of mentally retarded offenders decreased substantially over this period. The decrease is apparently due to a significant change in the sentencing of 'borderline' offenders, who were previously more likely to be handled by the penal system, because of overcrowded community care institutions. Over 87 percent of the offenders had a behavior disorder. Other predictors for criminal activity included low socioeconomic status and having retarded parents; early institutionalization was also predictive. It is noted that the trend in Denmark is toward normalization and deinstitutionalization of the mentally handicapped as a whole. For the subpopulation of these people whose conduct becomes criminal, this is a good sign, as normal penal sanctions do not seem to be effective. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Denmark, Criminal behavior, Prediction of, Prediction of criminal behavior, Crime, Mentally disabled persons

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