Levels of expressed emotions and life satisfaction in patients with bipolar affective disorder

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Many factors are responsible for the development of various psychological and psychiatric disorders. One of them is the degree of how relatives express their attitude towards psychological patients (i.e. expressed emotions). Therefore, the present paper aimed to explore the nature of the relationship between the perceived levels of expressed emotions among family members and the life satisfaction of patients with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). Furthermore, the study examined gender differences regarding expressed emotions and life satisfaction among BPAD patients. Materials and methods: For the purpose of the study, a sample of 100 diagnosed BPAD patients was selected from the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital and from various registered psychiatric clinics. To measure the levels of expressed emotions and life satisfaction, two emotional assessment instruments, namely the Levels of Expressed Emotions (LEE) scale developed by Chien and Chan (2009) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, were used. Results: The results of the study revealed that among the dimensions of expressed emotions the attitude toward the illness and emotional involvement, along with their composite score, were significantly and negatively correlated with life satisfaction in BPAD patients. The findings also showed that female BPAD patients perceived more emotional involvement of family members than male BPAD patients. In addition, unmarried BPAD patients reported more attitudes toward the illness (M = 2.783, SD = 0.5095) than married BPAD patients (M = 2.510, SD = 0.5708).