If maternal expressed emotion is an environmental risk factor for children's antisocial behavior problems, it should account for behavioral differences between siblings growing up in the same family even after genetic influences on children's behavior problems are taken into account. This hypothesis was tested in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study with a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort of twins. The authors interviewed the mothers of 565 five-year-old monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and established which twin in each family received more negative emotional expression and which twin received more warmth. Within MZ pairs, the twin receiving more maternal negativity and less warmth had more antisocial behavior problems. Qualitative interviews were used to generate hypotheses about why mothers treat their children differently. The results suggest that maternal emotional attitudes toward children may play a causal role in the development of antisocial behavior and illustrate how genetically informative research can inform tests of socialization hypotheses.

Maternal expressed emotion predicts children's antisocial behavior problems: using monozygotic-twin differences to identify environmental effects on behavioral development.

Five Minute Speech Sample in developmental research: A review

Conducted in an emergency homeless shelter, this study aimed to validate parents' expressed emotion (EE) from the Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) with observed parenting practices in a very high-risk population and examine how different aspects of parents' EE, including positive emotional expressions, related to observed parenting and children's school adjustment. Using three different coding approaches, we assessed the reliability and validity of four aspects of the FMSS: critical statements, positive statements, negative affect, and warmth in relation to negative and positive parenting behaviors and children's behavioral and relational adjustment in school. The FMSS was administered to 39 parents about their 4-7-year-old children. Parent-child dyads participated in a 45-min videotaped sequence of games and tasks later coded for parenting behavior. Results indicated that parents' warmth during the FMSS was related to more positive and effective observed parenting behaviors. Critical statements and negative affect during the FMSS were related to more coercive parenting behaviors. Negative affect also was related to teachers' reports of children's increased externalizing behavior, less prosocial behavior with peers, and more conflict with teachers. Criticism maintained associations with observed parenting even for parents who provided less than five minutes of speech. This study provides preliminary but promising evidence for the validity of FMSS scores in a high-risk sample of families and specifically for aspects of the FMSS to be efficient correlates of parenting behavior and aspects of children's school adjustment. Challenges, limitations, and promising features of the FMSS for use with highly disadvantaged parents are discussed.

Expressed emotion in homeless families: A methodological study of the five-minute speech sample.

This study examined risk, vulnerability, and protective processes of parental expressed emotion for children's peer relationships in families living in emergency shelters with high rates of exposure to parental violence (EPV). Parental criticism and negativity were hypothesized to exacerbate the association between EPV and poorer peer relations, whereas parental warmth was expected to buffer this association. Participants included 138 homeless parents (M = 30.77 years, SD = 6.33, range = 20.51–57.32 years; 64% African American, 12% Caucasian, 24% other) and their 4-to 6-year-old children (43.5% male; M = 4.83, SD = .58, range = 4.83–6.92 years; 67% African American, 2% Caucasian, 31% other). Families were assessed during the summer at three urban shelters, with parents completing the Five-Minute Speech Sample (FMSS), later scored for criticism, negativity, and warmth, and interview items about EPV. Teachers were subsequently contacted in the fall about children's classroom behavior, and they provided rati...

Risk, vulnerability, and protective processes of parental expressed emotion for children's peer relationships in contexts of parental violence

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) leads to the need for dialysis and renal transplantation (Tx). Peritoneal dialysis (PD) of young children is normally performed at home by the parents and affects the whole family. We studied the coping of families with a young child with ESRD by interviewing the parents of 19 children. The spousal and parent–child relationships were assessed by using the Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences (PACE) and the Brief Measure of Expressed Emotion, respectively. A control group of 22 families with a healthy child was used for the parent–child relationship evaluation. The spousal relationship at the start of PD was good or fairly good in most of the families and remained good in half of the families following renal Tx. Lack of support from close relatives and renal Tx were associated with a poorer relationship quality. Almost all parents expressed much or fairly much emotional warmth towards the child throughout the study, but there was a trend towards increased criticism over time. No differences in the degree of expressed warmth or criticism were noted between the index parents and controls. Overall, the study families appeared to cope well despite the serious illness of their child and the demands of the treatments.

Parent–child and spousal relationships in families with a young child with end-stage renal disease

The study examined three methodological aspects of expressed emotion (EE) as assessed in the course of PACE (Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences) interviews with a parent. In a sample of 87 children, aged 6–13 years, enrolled in a prospective study examining the role of stress on the course of asthma, EE was assessed at three time points, 9 months apart. A high degree of agreement was found among the three concurrent measures of negative and positive EE (kappas from 0.74 to 0.97, and from 0.45 to 0.88, respectively; p ≤ 0.0001 in all instances). The temporal stability of all measures was lower, although statistically significant in all but 2 instances (kappas from 0.19 to 0.59, and from 0.11 to 0.39, respectively). The temporal stability across measures, as well as across interviewers and over time, was broadly similar (kappas from 0.21 to 0.56 for negative EE, and from 0.09 to 0.38 for positive EE, with all but three of the 36 statistically significant). The findings provide support for the underlying assumptions of the PACE-EE and show the utility of measures based on just very brief periods of non-directive interviewing, making them practical in a wide range of studies with EE just one of a larger set of measures. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

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Johanna Järvi

Papers

Brief measure of expressed emotion: internal consistency and stability over time.