Psychophysiological responses of schizophrenic patients to high and low expressed emotion relatives.

Measurements of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance in 20 acutely ill schizophrenic patients were made in a video-tape studio. Recordings were made initially with the patient talking to an interviewer, then during a video-taped interview conducted with the patient's key relative. The Expressed Emotion (EE) of the patient's key relative had been measured previously. Significant differences in the type of spontaneous fluctuation activity between patients who had low EE and high EE relatives were demonstrated when the relative was present, but not when the relative was absent. The findings were not related to phenothiazine medication.