The Assessment of Expressed Emotion in a Standardised Family Interview

Abstract

This study compared the expressed emotion (EE) scores obtained using individual interviews with parents with the scores obtained in whole family interviews. Interviews were carried out with 31 parents of 16 adolescents referred because of an eating disorder. There was moderate correlation of scores between the two interviews regarding critical comments, emotional overinvolvement, and warmth, but it was low for positive remarks. The study suggests that the whole family interview, which is time saving, is useful in assessing expressed emotion. The levels of expressed emotion, particularly the relatively low levels of critical comments and emotional overinvolvement, are similar to those of previous studies.