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Are Communication Deviance and Expressed Emotion Related to Family History of Psychiatric Disorders in Schizophrenia? by Kenneth L. Subotnik, Michael J. Qoldstein, Keith H. Nuechterlein, Stephanie M. Woo, and Jim Mint? (2) affective attitudes and behaviors expressed toward another family member, usually one who has manifested some signs of a psychiatric disorder. The work of Wynne and Singer provides the best operational criteria for disturbed communicational processes, which they termed communication deviance (CD; Wynne and Singer 1963a, 1963£; Wynne et al. 1977). Note that the CD measure identifies not psychiatric deviance but specific aspects of communication style. The most heavily researched construct related to affective attitude is expressed emotion (EE; Brown et al. 1972), defined as notable attitudes of criticism and/or emotional overinvolvement manifested in a semistructured interview, the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI; Brown and Rutter 1966). A major assumption underlying this line of research, particularly in the case of biological parents of young adult schizophrenia patients, has been that these measures reflect ongoing family transactions that are stressors for persons who are in regular contact with high-CD or highEE relatives (Nuechterlein et al. 1989; Miklowitz and Stackman 1992; Hooley and Gotlib 2000). There are other possible explanations of their apparent clinical significance. For example, these attributes may represent indirect assessments of a major psychiatric disorder in the parent. That question has been studied. The results have been largely, although not entirely, negative. A previous report (Goldstein et al. 1992) on a sample of 56 parents of 41 recent-onset schizophrenia patients found that high CD in relatives was not related to the presence of either a past or a present psychiatric disorder. Negative findings were also obtained for the CFI-EE assessment. The Five-Minute Speech Sample Method (FMSS-EE; Magafia et al. 1986) did suggest that relatives with a lifetime diagnosis of a severe psychiatric disorder were more likely to have high FMSS-EE, and that tendency was even stronger using a composite index based on both the CFI- and FMSS-EE measures, which were separated by a 4- to 5-week period. Abstract Studies have reported that certain measures of intrafamilial transactions are associated with an increased risk both for the initial onset of schizophrenia and for its recurrence following the initial episode of disorder. Two of the most studied of these are communication deviance (CD), a measure of subclinical thought disorder expressed in speech, and expressed emotion (EE), defined as notable attitudes of criticism and/or emotional overinvolvement manifested in a semistructured interview. A previous study (Goldstein et al. 1992) examined whether these two measures were associated with the presence of a diagnosable psychiatric disorder in the biological parents of recent-onset schizophrenia patients. In general, they were not. The present study went one step further. It examined whether these same measures were correlated with family history of schizophrenia or affective disorder in the biological parents and siblings of these same parents. High EE was not associated with a greater family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders among the parent's parents and siblings but was unexpectedly found to be inversely associated with familial affective disorders. In contrast, CD was associated with a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders among the parent's parents and siblings. The findings are consistent with the possibility that CD may be an indicator of a genetic vulnerability factor for schizophrenia. Keywords: Schizophrenia, thought disorder, family study, communication deviance, expressed emotion, vulnerability indicator, family environment. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 28(4):719-729, 2002. Certain measures of intrafamilial transactions have been consistently associated with an increased risk for recurrence of schizophrenic psychosis following the initial episode of the disorder (see Goldstein 1987, and Hooley and Hiller 2001, for reviews of these findings). Two attributes that have been studied extensively are (1) the clarity of communication between parents and their offspring and Send reprint requests to Dr. K. L. Subotnik, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 300 UCLA Medical Plaza, Room 2240, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6968; email: [email protected]. 719 Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 K.L. Subotnik et al. The present study took this line of research one step further to consider whether our previous findings were generally negative because, by virtue of their parenthood status, these relatives would be unlikely to have a severe psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenia (Gottesman 1991). Therefore, we decided to examine the question of whether CD and even EE tap a predisposition to a psychiatric disorder that is not clinically expressed. If these measures were found to be related to a family history of a schizophrenia-related disorder among the subject's parents and siblings, this would be consistent with a familially transmitted predispositional factor for schizophrenia, which other evidence suggests is primarily genetic in origin (Kendler 2000). Some evidence supportive of this view has recently been presented by Docherty et al. (19996) for another index of communication disturbance. Therefore, we examined whether high levels of EE or CD were related to a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in the parents and siblings of the biological parents of individuals with schizophrenia. A contrast measure of a family history of affective disorder was also examined in relation to EE and CD. Methods Subjects. The current study involved linkage of data from three separate protocols, each of which contributed data in some form to the current analyses. These protocols involved separate informed consent procedures, different research measures, and different inclusion criteria. Contributing Project 1: Developmental Processes in Schizophrenic Disorders (principal investigator [PI]: K.H.N.). The main protocol was the first one within the Developmental Processes in Schizophrenic Disorders project, a longitudinal prospective study of the early course of schizophrenia in young adult patients (Nuechterlein et al. 1992). This project followed 104 patients with a recent onset of schizophrenia. As part of the initial protocol, Developmental Processes in Outcome, significant others with whom the patients had at least weekly contact were asked to participate in a research interview, the CFI (Vaughn and Leff 1976), to assess EE (CFI-EE). At least one biological parent in 67 families, for a total of 105 parent-subjects, participated. Because the biological parents of the patients, not the patients themselves, were the subjects in the present study, the patient sample will be described only briefly here. A complete description of the selection criteria for the patient sample can be found in Nuechterlein et al. (1992). All patients were required to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenic, by Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC; Spitzer et al. 720 1978), with the patient's first psychotic episode occurring less than 2 years prior to project contact. An active psychotic period of at least 2 weeks was required. The patients were screened and selected from consecutive admissions to four local public psychiatric hospitals and referrals to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Adult Psychiatry outpatient department. Family history of psychiatric illness was not considered in patient selection. Patients with current significant and habitual drug and alcohol abuse, or with a history of abuse that made the diagnosis of schizophrenia ambiguous, were excluded. At the time of entry into the study, the mean age of the 67 patients was 23.2 years (standard deviation [SD] = 4.6, range 18 to 44 years); the mean years of school was 12.5 (SD = 1.8, range 8 to 16 years); and 57 patients (85%) were male, 10 were female. Sixty patients were non-Hispanic Caucasian, 3 were Hispanic, 1 was Asian, and 3 were of mixed racial background. Contributing Project 2: Coping Behavior in Schizophrenia (UCLA Family Project; PI: M.J.G.). Approximately 4 to 5 weeks after the patients began outpatient treatment as part of Project 1, the parents were asked to participate in a second, separate protocol to assess family attitudes and interactions. A total of 94 biological parents participated in Project 2. A measure of subclinical thought disorder (i.e., CD) administered at the UCLA Family Project was used for this report. Contributing Project 3: The UCLA Family Study (PI: K.H.N.). The third protocol was a family study of psychiatric disorders and neurocognitive vulnerability factors. At least 1 biological family member from 79 of the 104 families of the Developmental Processes in Outcome patients participated. Of the 158 biological parents of patients in these 79 families, 111 were interviewed in person. Of those parents not directly interviewed (n - Al), 25 (10 mothers and 15 fathers) were deceased, 7 (2 mothers and 5 fathers) lived far from Los Angeles and were not available to be interviewed, 5 (fathers) could not be located, and 10 (3 mothers and 7 fathers) declined to be interviewed. Thus, of the 121 living parents who were located, lived locally, and were contacted by the research team, 92 percent were directly interviewed. Demographics of parents. Ninety-eight parent-subjects (60 mothers and 38 fathers) participated in both Project 1 and Project 3. These parent-subjects were an average of 55 years old at the time of the Family Study assessment (SD = 7.5). They had a mean of 13.9 years of education (SD = 2.8) and a mean socioeconomic status of 2.9 (SD = 1.2) (Hollingshead 1957). Eighty-six parentsubjects were Caucasian, 6 were Hispanic, 2 were AfricanAmerican, 2 were Asian, and 2 were of mixed racial background. Somewhat fewer (89) parent-subjects participated in both Project 2 and Project 3. These 89 subjects were Communication Deviance and Expressed Emotion Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 demographically similar to the 98 participants in both Project 1 and Project 3. The 98 parent-subjects in the current report include the 56 originally described in the prior report of the relationship of CD and EE to the personal psychiatric history of the parents (Goldstein et al. 1992). study, it involved only a subgroup of parents who chose to participate (a separate informed consent process and form were completed). The staff who collected these diagnostic data had no overlap with those who collected the EE and CD data. The first part of the Family Study involved face-toface diagnostic interviews with the parent. Clinical psychiatric syndromes were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS; Robins et al. 1981), with supplemental questions regarding psychotic symptoms selected from the Present State Exam (PSE; Wing et al. 1974); the supplemental questions were asked if there was evidence of the symptoms. The presence of any of five selected personality disorders (schizotypal, paranoid, schizoid, avoidant, and borderline) was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-HI-R (SCID-II; Spitzer et al. 1987). Extensive followup questions were asked if indicated by the subject's response to the initial probe question for any individual criterion. Following this interview concerning personal history of psychiatric disorders, each parent then participated in a family history interview that covered psychiatric disorders in the first and second degree relatives, plus the cousins, of the schizophrenia patient. All family history diagnoses were based on symptoms reported by the interviewee and did not rely on the interviewee's memory of what diagnoses had been given to the family members. This history was collected using the Relative Psychiatric History format developed by Gershon (1985). Diagnosis for the noninterviewed second and third degree relatives was made using the Family History Research Diagnostic Criteria (Andreasen et al. 1977). Personality disorder symptoms were assessed with the SCID-II, which we adapted for a family history interview format as follows. Initial screening questions were used to assess for the presence of personality disorder symptoms in the subject's first and second degree relatives. If there was evidence of personality pathology relevant to one or more of the five personality disorders examined here, the SCID-II questions for these disorders were asked in the third person. Standard DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association 1987) criteria were used to rate personality disorder diagnoses. When family history information on these relatives was also available from the subject's spouse, a consensus diagnosis was made from these sources. The Family Study interviewers had clinical training in psychiatric diagnosis and had substantial experience conducting structured diagnostic interviews. Training in the use of the modified DIS/PSE involved didactic instruction, co-rating taped interviews, and live interviews (Fogelson et al. 1991; Subotnik et al. 1997). David Fogelson, M.D., trained the staff to administer the SCID-II and family history interview through a three-step procedure involving (1) Procedures Procedures from Project 1. As described above, the CFI (Vaughn and Leff 1976) was administered to parent-subjects to assess EE as part of the Developmental Processes study. The CFI was administered within a month of the patient's index hospital admission or soon thereafter. Procedures from Project 2. After discharge from the hospital, the patients and the adult relatives with whom they had at least weekly contact were informed of the separate study, Coping Behavior in Schizophrenia, in which other family assessment data were collected. If they agreed to participate, which required a separate informed consent process and form, they were scheduled for a session approximately 4 to 5 weeks after the patient was discharged. A seven-card version of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was individually administered to each subject to assess CD. The instructions requested that the subject make up a story for each card covering what led up to the scene portrayed in the picture, what was occurring in the picture, how the characters were thinking or feeling, and how the story might end. The subjects' stories were audiotaped, converted to transcripts, and scored according to a 27-category system based on the original Wynne-Singer system for operationalizing the construct of CD as modified by Jones (1977) for the TAT. The TATCD system results in a mean z score representing the 27 categories weighted by their frequency relative to the length of the total speech record, and expressed in SD units based on previously collected normative data. In addition, six factor scores are available from these data based on the original work of Jones (1977); these scores define specific clusters of the ways that CD can be manifested in the respondents' stories. The interrater reliability (intraclass correlation) for the mean z score was 0.99 (p < 0.0001). The average intraclass correlation for the six factors was 0.90 (range 0.82 to 0.98, p < 0.001 for each; Miklowitz et al. 1986, 1991). All coders of CFI-EE and TAT-CD were blind to the diagnostic data that were collected subsequently from the parents of the schizophrenia patients. Also, separate teams of raters made the CFI and TAT-CD ratings, and each team operated without the knowledge of the other's data. Procedures from Project 3. Because the UCLA Family Study was separate from the Developmental Processes 721 K.L. Subotnik et al. Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 may have contained individuals with other psychiatric disorders that were not examined in relation to the family interaction variables under study. having staff rate sample interviews conducted by Dr. Fogelson with feedback from him on their symptom ratings and diagnoses; (2) administering practice interviews with other staff and the trainer; and (3) administering the modified DIS/PSE, SCID-II, and family history interview to at least five subjects drawn from the adult inpatient service at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and a temporary employment agency. Interviewers were considered to have completed training when there was at least 90 percent agreement between their symptom ratings and the ratings of Dr. Fogelson. Ongoing weekly supervision was provided to prevent drift in rating standards over time. Reasonable reliability for assessing personality disorder symptom dimensions using the SCID-II was established based on 45 cases (intraclass correlations were 0.82 for borderline, 0.73 for schizotypal, 0.70 for paranoid, 0.60 for schizoid, and 0.84 for avoidant; Fogelson et al. 1991). The diagnoses that were generated for schizophrenia, schizophrenia-related psychoses, and schizophrenia spectrum personality disorders using the family history method were previously shown to have excellent specificity and positive predictive value but low sensitivity (Fogelson et al., in press). Following the collection of family history data, the family history of each biological parent of a patient was characterized by the presence of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective disorders in the parent-subject's own parents or siblings. This family history characterization excludes the offspring of these parent-subjects to avoid confounding the genetic loading of mothers and fathers within the same family. Although having such a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in siblings or parents does not formally represent obligate carrier status, it might be considered a proxy for such a carrier status, given that all parent-subjects had at least one offspring with schizophrenia. If any parent or sibling of a parent had a diagnosis of RDC schizophrenia, RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenia, or DSM-IJI-R schizotypal or paranoid personality disorder, that parent-subject was classified as meeting this proxy criteria for schizophrenia liability carrier status. This was true for 14 (14.3%) of the family histories of the 98 parents who participated in both Projects 1 and 3. If any parent or sibling of a parent-subject satisfied criteria for RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly affective, RDC manic disorder, or RDC major depressive disorder, the parent-subject was classified as having an affective disorder familial liability. This was true for 21 (21.4%) of the family histories of the 98 parents who participated in Projects 1 and 3, with 5 of these 21 parent-subjects also meeting proxy criteria for schizophrenia spectrum disorder liability carrier status. Sixty-eight parents had none of the above diagnoses in their parents or siblings. Note that those families Data Analyses The statistical model for the analysis of CD (a continuous and unimodally distributed variable) was a general linear mixed model (SAS PROC MIXED). Family history among the parent-subject's own parents and siblings ("positive," "negative") and parent-subject gender (i.e., mother, father) were fixed design effects in a 2 X 2 crossed design. Personal lifetime psychiatric history (presence of any psychiatric disorder1) was included as a covariate. Random family and error effects (assumed to be independent) modeled possible nonindependence within families (in fact, within-family correlation was trivial, accounting for no more than 1% of the variance in any analysis). The presence or absence of any of the assessed personal RDC or DSM-III-R disorders was entered as a covariate so that variance associated with personal psychiatric pathology would be accounted for statistically. The dichotomous EE variable was analyzed with the same design, using the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) approach of Liang and Zeger (1986). The GEE analyses specified a logit link function, binomial error, and the exchangeable correlation structure (in fact, any specification of the correlation structure would produce the same results in this model because there was only one covariance to model with a maximum of two measures per family). The GEE program reports separate robust t tests for each of the fixed parameter estimates. Significant interactions of family history by parent status were followed up with analyses for each parent separately, using simple contingency tables and chi-square tests of significance. Separate analyses were conducted for family history (among parents and siblings) of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective disorders. Results CFI-EE. CFI-EE data from Project 1 were available for 98 of the subjects (60 mothers and 38 fathers) who also participated in Project 3. Fifty-two participants (53%) 'Twenty-six mothers (43.3%) had one or more of the following lifetime personal psychiatric diagnoses: RDC schizophrenia; schizoaffective, manic, or major depressive disorder; DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder, or DSM-III-R avoidant. paranoid, schizotypal, schizoid, or borderline personality disorder. Similarly, 16 fathers (42.1%) had one or more of these psychiatric diagnoses. 722 Communication Deviance and Expressed Emotion Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 CD. CD data from Project 2 were available for 89 of the participants (53 mothers and 36 fathers) from Project 3. For the main dependent measure, TAT-CD z score, there was a statistically significant interaction between a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder among the subject's parents and siblings and parent gender (F = 4.06, df = 1,58, p = 0.049). The statistical association between a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and CD was observed among mothers (r = 2.54, df= 58, p < 0.02) but not fathers (f = -0.85, df= 58, p = 0.40). Mothers with a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders among their parents and siblings had higher (i.e., worse) TAT-CD z scores (n = 11, mean = 0.39, SD = 0.52) than mothers with no such family history {n = 42, mean = 0.05, SD = 0.35; table 2). Personal history of any lifetime psychiatric disorder accounted for very little of the variance in TAT-CD z scores (t = 0.47, df = 58, p = 0.64) in the overall analysis (both F < 1 in the separate analyses by parent). Similar results were found when personal psychi- were rated as high EE. The presence of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder among the subject's parents and siblings was not associated with CFI-EE status of the parent (main effect: z = 0.86, p = 0.39; interaction of family history X parent: z = -0.32, p = 0.75). However, there was a statistically significant interaction of affective disorder familial liability by parent gender (z = -2.22, p < 0.03). Analyses done separately by parent gender revealed an association for mothers (x 2 (l) = 5.95, p < 0.02) but not fathers (x 2 (l) = 0.30, p = 0.58) (table 1). Mothers who had a family history of affective disorders among their own parents and siblings were more likely to be classified as showing low rather than high CFI-EE attitudes. Only 2 of the 11 (18%) mothers with a family history of affective disorder among their own parents and siblings were rated as showing high CFI-EE attitudes, whereas 30 of 49 (61%) mothers with no affective disorder family history among their parents and siblings were rated as having high CFI-EE attitudes. Table 1. Family history by CFI-EE status of 60 mothers and 38 fathers CFI-EE Status Mothers Family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders1 Present Absent Test statistics Family history of affective disorders2 Present Absent Test statistics Low High 4 24 7 25 X 2 =0.30, 9 19 Fathers Family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders1 Present Absent Test statistics Family history of affective disorders2 Present Absent Test statistics df=-\,ns X2=5.95, df=1,p<0.02 3 ' 4 2 30 2 18 1 17 X 2 = 0 . 2 6 , df=1, ns 6 14 4 14 X 2 = 0.30, df =1, Note.—CFI-EE = Camberwell Family Interview, expressed emotion; ns = nonsignificant; RDC = Research Diagnostic Criteria. The schizophrenia spectrum disorders category is present if the parent has at least one parent or sibling with RDC schizophrenia, RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenic, or DSM-III-R schizotypal or paranoid personality disorders. 2 The affective disorders category is present if the parent has at least one parent or sibling with a major depressive disorder, RDC bipolaraffective disorder, or RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly affective. 3 Chi-square values are from the SAS Generalized Estimating Equation procedure with personal lifetime psychiatric history included as a covariate. See Data Analyses section for details. 4 The simple 2 x 2 chi square for family history of affective disorders and CFI-EE status was x 2 = 6.69, <#= 1, p < 0.01. 1 723 Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 K.L. Subotnik et al. Table 2. Family history of lifetime psychiatric diagnoses byTAT-CD mean z scores for 53 mothers and 36 fathers TAT-CD z(SD) Mothers Fathers Family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders1 Present 0.39(0.52), n= 11 Absent 0.05 (0.35), n = 42 Test statistics t=2.54, df= 58, p<0.02 2 0.15(0.44), n = 4 -0.03(0.31), n = 32 f = 0.85, df= 33, ns Family history of affective disorders3 Present Absent Test statistics -0.01 (0.35), /?= 10 0.19(0.45), n = 26 f = 1.27, df= 35, ns 0.06(0.62), n= 11 0.14(0.35), n = 42 f = -0.54, df = 58, ns Note.—ns = nonsignificant; RDC = Research Diagnostic Criteria; SD = standard deviation; TAT-CD = Thematic Apperception Test, communication deviance. 1 The schizophrenia spectrum disorders category is present if the parent has at least one parent or sibling with RDC schizophrenia, RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenic, or DSM-III-R schizotypal or paranoid personality disorders. 2 t test values are from the SAS general linear mixed model with personal lifetime psychiatric history as a covariate. See Data Analyses section for details. 3 The affective disorders category is present if the parent has at least one parent or sibling with a major depressive disorder, RDC bipolaraffective disorder, or RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly affective. atric history was limited to the presence or absence of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (i.e., RDC schizophrenia, RDC schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenia, or DSM-III-R schizotypal or paranoid personality disorder). There were no significant relationships between any of the six CD factors and family history of schizophrenia spectrum in the subjects' siblings or parents (p values for the main effect of family history ranged from 0.65 to 0.96, median = 0.86; for the interaction of family history by parent gender from 0.10 to 0.92, median = 0.44). No significant relationship was found between family history of affective disorder among the subjects' parents and siblings and the subjects' TAT-CD z scores. history. A genetic basis for the observed relationship is possible but cannot be either confirmed or ruled out based on this family study. An environment explanation of this relationship might be that prior exposure to a severely depressed relative may ameliorate somewhat the tendency to be critical of one's own psychiatrically ill child and may promote the development of more tolerant attitudes. One might wonder why prior exposure to a family member with an affective disorder, but not prior exposure to a schizophrenia-related disorder, is associated with lower EE attitudes toward an offspring with schizophrenia. Several aspects need consideration. As we have pointed out elsewhere, EE is likely to arise in the difficult context in which relatives of schizophrenia patients struggle to find ways of relating to their relative with severe mental disorder (Miklowitz et al. 1989; Strachan et al. 1989; Rosenfarb et al. 1995, 2000; Woo et al. 1997). Schizophrenia-related disorders are more likely than depressive disorders to involve a sustained family burden due to specific disturbed behaviors and social performance deficits, which have been found to be associated with high-EE attitudes (Jackson et al. 1990). Thus, sustained exposure to schizophrenia may not lead as commonly to development of tolerant attitudes toward major psychiatric disorders. Previous exposure to a family member who experienced one or more depressive episodes from which recovery occurred without persistent disturbed behaviors and functional impairment, on the other hand, may result in more hopeful and tolerant attitudes when an offspring later develops a psychiatric disorder. The picture for CD looks quite different. The mean across all 27 CD items (standardized) was positively asso- Discussion EE level of parents was not related to the degree of their familial liability to schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This is consistent with the general belief that EE does not reflect a subclinical schizophrenia spectrum disorder. This suggests that the oft-replicated finding that high-EE parental status predicts higher relapse rates for patients with schizophrenia cannot be accounted for by another known prognostic variable: a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. We found that familial affective disorder (among parents and siblings of the parent-subjects) was associated with reduced rather than increased likelihood of manifesting high-EE attitudes. A direct comparison to a previous literature is not possible because no prior studies have directly examined EE in relationship to family psychiatric 724 Communication Deviance and Expressed Emotion Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 ciated with presence of a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder in the respondent's parents and siblings, albeit only on the maternal side. Scores on this measure were not associated with a personal psychiatric diagnosis in these parents. Separate analyses of the six CD factor scores did not point to any specific component of CD, suggesting that it was overall CD that was related to maternal family history. This pattern in a family pedigree—the presence of schizophrenia spectrum disorder in either the parents or siblings of an individual, notable levels of CD in that individual, and schizophrenia in the individual's offspring (i.e., the patient)—is genetically interpretable. The parent of the patient in this situation is the probable carrier of some psychosis-predisposing gene or genes. CD in such biological parents of a schizophrenia patient might serve as a subclinical indicator of a genetic predisposition to psychotic disorder. The notion that CD may be a subtle manifestation of a genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia would be further supported if CD was also related to neurocognitive deficits in first degree relatives that are putative indicators of vulnerability factors for schizophrenia (Nuechterlein and Dawson 1984; Asarnow et al. 1991; Braff 1993). Wagener and colleagues found relationships within biological parents of schizophrenia patients between CD and performance on the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and the Span of Apprehension (SPAN) test (Wagener et al. 1986). We have similarly found that some parental CD factor scores in the current sample are significantly associated with those parents' own CPT and SPAN performance (Subotnik et al. 1999). However, a relationship between neurocognitive measures and communication disturbance in parents of schizophrenia patients has not consistently been found (Docherty and Gordinier 1999). We found that the association between parental CD levels and presence of schizophrenia spectrum disorder in parents and siblings of these parents was significant for mothers, but not fathers, of schizophrenia patients. This raises the question of gender effects. There is some evidence that family morbid risk for schizophrenia may be higher among female than male schizophrenia patients (Goldstein 1995), and DeLisi and Crow (1989) raised the possibility of a sex-linked transmission pattern. Our data cannot definitively tell us whether the observed relationship truly holds only for mothers, for several reasons. First, the rate of participation of fathers was lower than for mothers, limiting statistical power for fathers. Although the data for fathers were in the same direction as for mothers, only four of the fathers had a parent or sibling with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Second, we believe that the fathers were not as knowledgeable as historians about psychiatric disorders in their family members as were the mothers. This would have decreased our sensitivity to detect psychiatric disorders in the father's parents and siblings. The finding that a subtle form of thought disorder is associated with a familial history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders is consistent with the findings of Docherty et al. (1999fo) for another index of communication abnormalities, the Communication Disturbances Index (CDI), and a family history of psychotic disorders. CDI in parents of schizophrenia patients was significantly associated with a family history of psychotic disorders. While, by the simplest genetic view, one would expect that CDI in parents would be directly associated with CDI in their offspring with schizophrenia, Docherty et al. (1999a) found that this was not the case. Instead, CDI scores in parents were associated with overall symptom severity in their offspring with schizophrenia. However, Shenton et al. (1989) did find such a parent-offspring correlation using the Rorschach Thought Disorder Index. Thus, whether there is a straightforward parent-offspring similarity in subtle thought disorder levels remains unclear and may depend on the measure of thought disorder that is used. An alternative to the genetic view regarding influences on CD might be that CD, at least in part, is a result of exposure to an immediate family member with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (Miklowitz and Stackman 1992). Prior studies of environmental effects have focused almost exclusively on the possible impact of parent CD on offspring schizophrenia spectrum disorder. However, there is some evidence that contact with one's offspring with schizophrenia might lead to disordered communication in the parent (Liem 1974). The complex interplay between genetic and environmental influences on thought disorder is seen in an intriguing study of adopted-away offspring of mothers with schizophrenia (Wahlberg et al. 1997a, 19976). Their findings suggest that exposure to parental CD might potentiate a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. They reported an interaction between having a biological parent with schizophrenia and environmental exposure to a thoughtdisordered adoptive parent. Offspring with a biological parent who had schizophrenia were more likely to develop thought disorder when reared by adoptive parents with high, as compared to low, CD. Offspring without a biological parent with schizophrenia were unlikely to develop thought disorder regardless of the adoptive parents' levels of CD. One possible concern is the representativeness of the current sample. The mean educational level of the subset of 98 parents (13.9 years ± 2.8 SD) in this report seems high, but it is not significantly different from the mean educational level of all parents of the 104 schizophrenia patients from Project 1 who were potential participants 725 Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 K.L. Subotnik et al. Andreasen, N.C.; Endicott, J.; Spitzer, R.L.; and Winokur, G. The family history method using diagnostic criteria. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34:1229-1235, 1977. (13.3 years ± 2.5 SD). Thus, we have little reason to suspect that the educational level of these 98 subjects reflects a selection bias within our sample. It is also possible that parents who hold less critical attitudes toward their ill offspring or who exhibit fewer communication abnormalities would be more likely to participate in two or more research studies associated with the research clinic providing treatment for their offspring with schizophrenia. With regard to EE status, our sample of participants in both Projects 1 and 3 was not different than all participants in Project 1 (53% in the current sample classified as high CFI-EE versus 48% of all Project 1 participants). The present sample also did not appear to be biased in its distribution of TAT-CD scores in comparison to other studies. Miklowitz et al. (1986) reported TAT-CD data on 205 relatives of schizophrenia patients drawn from three separate sites in the United States that were very close to the mean TAT-CD z score in the present study (mean = 0.13, SD = 0.41; Miklowitz et al. [1986] sample, mean = 0.15, SD = 0.36). Another potential concern with this study is the use of the SCID-II in a family history format. The SCID-II interview for the family history format is quite similar to that for the direct interview format, and both use full DSM-III-R criteria. Given that some personality disorder symptoms may be more accurately rated based on the reports of significant others rather than self-report, this format may be especially valuable for personality disorders. Although we have shown good reliability for administration of the direct interview format (Fogelson et al. 1991), this novel use of the SCID-II has not been validated and needs further study. In summary, we found that a family history of affective disorder is associated with lower rates of EE among parents of schizophrenia patients. This suggests that prior exposure to a severely depressed relative might promote the development of more tolerant (i.e., lower EE) attitudes toward one's own child as he or she struggles with a recent onset of schizophrenia. In contrast, our CD results suggest that high parental CD scores may be a vulnerability indicator for level of genetic loading for schizophrenia. 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We would also like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in collecting and/or coding the data reported here: Jeri Doane, Ph.D.; Portia Loughman, B.A.; Martha Magana, B.A.; Sandra Malik, B.A.; Margaret Rea, Ph.D.; Karen Snyder, M.A.; Dawn Velligan, Ph.D.; and Sybil Zaiden, B.A. We also acknowledge the statistical services of Sun Hwang, M.S., M.P.H., of the University of California, Los Angeles Clinical Research Center for Schizophrenia (principal investigator: Robert P. Liberman, M.D.). This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health grants MH37705, MH49716, MH45112, MH30911, and MH08744 and by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Vaughn, C.E., and Leff, J.P. The influence of family and social factors on the course of psychiatric illness: A comparison of schizophrenic and depressed neurotic patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129:125-137, 1976. Wagener, D.K.; Hogarty, G.E.; Goldstein, M.J.; Asarnow, R.F.; and Brown, A. Information processing and communication deviance in schizophrenic patients and their mothers. Psychiatry Research, 18:365-377, 1986. Wahlberg, K.E.; Wynne, L.C.; Keskitalo, P.; Koistinen, P.; Tarvainen, R.; Hakko, H.; Lahti, I.; Laksy, K.; Moring, J.; Naarala, M.; Sorri, A.; Seitamaa, M.; and Tienari, P. "Communication Deviance of the Adoptive Parents and Poor Cognitive Functioning of the Adoptees." Paper presented at the Sixth Biennial Meeting of the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Colorado Springs, CO, April 1997a. The Authors Wahlberg, K.E.; Wynne, L.C.; Oja, H.; Keskitalo, P.; Pykalainen, L.; Lahti, I.; Moring, J.; Naarala, M.; Sorri, A.; Seitamaa, M.; Laksy, K.; Kolassa, J.; and Tienari, P. Gene-environment interaction in vulnerability to schizophrenia: Findings from the Finnish adoptive family study of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154:355-362, \997b. Kenneth L. Subotnik, Ph.D., is Associate Research Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences; Michael J. Goldstein, Ph.D., (deceased) was Professor in the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences; and Keith H. Nuechterlein is Professor in the 728 Communication Deviance and Expressed Emotion Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2002 Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles. Stephanie M. Woo is Assistant Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles. Jim Mintz is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles. 729