Abstract
Background: There is an established association between parental Expressed Emotion (EE) and mental health disorders in children and adults. Most research has focussed on parental EE regarding under 12s or adult offspring, with very little attention devoted in the literature to the impact of parental EE regarding adolescent offspring. Furthermore, most studies have used methods of coding EE that were designed for use in relation to adult offspring, raising questions about the validity of their findings. The aim of this study was to compare level of parental EE regarding adolescent offspring (12-18 years) referred for treatment for depression and/or anxiety with parental EE regarding adolescent offspring recruited from the community. Design: A cross-sectional, between-subjects’ design was used. A clinical group of adolescents and one of their parents were recruited from a Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) service. A community group of adolescents and a parent were recruited as a comparison group. EE was assessed using the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) with a coding scheme adapted for use with adolescent offspring. Parents completed the FMSS and a measure of psychopathology. Adolescents completed a questionnaire measure of their own anxiety and depression. Results: Level of parental EE, Criticism and Emotional Over-Involvement was non-significant between the two groups. Level of Warmth and number of positive comments was significantly lower in the clinical group. Parental EE was significantly associated with higher adolescent self-reported symptoms of depression. Parental psychopathology was not associated with parental EE. Conclusions: EE may be more normative in relation to adolescents compared to other studies. Lack of positive elements of EE may be more of a risk factor for adolescents. However, the cross-sectional design of this study means that causality cannot be inferred. Key words: Expressed Emotion, Parents, Adolescents, Internalising disorders.