Expressed Emotion among Caregivers of Person with Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Comparative Study

Background: This is a cross-sectional comparative study with the aim to compare two patient groups of schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and their respective caregivers with the objectives to quantify and compare the expressed emotion (EE) in caregivers of person with schizophrenia and OCD and to study the relationship between them. It also aimed to identify factors associated with expressed emotions in above two groups. Methods: In this study, 40 patients schizophrenia, 40 patients of OCD, along with their 80 respective caregivers were taken on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects were assessed using Socio-demographic and clinical sheet &FEICS. Appropriate statistics such as mean, standard deviation, unpaired t test, Pearson’s correlation were applied to analyse the data. Result: The results of the study the caregivers of patients with OCD were perceived as having greater over-involvement than the caregivers of schizophrenia. Perceived criticism had a positive correlation with stress whereas over-involvement had a negative correlation. Some of the demographic variables like age and education were also found to have significant correlation with expressed emotion. Conclusion: The presence of significant amount of expressed emotion point out to the need for psychosocial support to the family members for reduction in the expressed emotion.