Expressed emotion (EE) represents a measure of the emotional
quality of the relationship between a key caregiver and relative,
where the latter is experiencing a psychiatric or medical condition,
and with implications for the course of this condition. To the
author's knowledge, despite the salience of behavioural disturbance
for families with learning disabled children, no published study has
specifically investigated the relationship between parental EE and
child behavioural disturbance. The current study focused on a
comparison of high and low EE households with regards to child
behavioural disturbance, parental stress and coping, and service and
respite care usage. Forty parents were interviewed with a modified
Camberwell Family Interview. The results showed no significant
difference between high and low EE groups with regards to child
behavioural disturbance, parental coping as related to factors such as
social support and familial resources, and service and respite care
usage. High EE parents reported significantly higher levels of stress
and significantly less use of support and advice outside the family
system than low EE parents. The findings conflict with conclusions
from EE research e.g . with learning disabled adolescents, dementia
and non-learning disabled children, which have demonstrated a
relationship between EE and behavioural disturbance, but concur
with studies, mainly with regards to schizophrenia, which have found
that level of EE is independent of behavioural disturbance. Thus
level of EE in the current study appears principally to reflect
parental characteristics as opposed to child-related characteristics.
The results suggest that a focus on parental psychological needs in
relation to both the emotional quality of the parent-child
relationship, and the care of the child more generally, might be more
appropriate for both parents and children, as opposed to a traditional
child-centric service delivery . Further research is required to
elucidate the relationship between EE and behaviour, and there is
value in exploring the relationship between EE and behaviour over
time, within a longitudinal design. Indeed, the scope for further
study of EE in the area of learning disability is tremendous, and the
inherent modifiability of the EE construct renders it an appealing
guide in terms of service development and outcome evaluation.
Date of Award | 1993 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | |
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EXPRESSED EMOTION IN PARENTS OF BEHAVIOURALLY DISTURBED LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN
STURT, C. E. (Author). 1993
Student thesis: PhD