Abstract
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This study examined the short term effects of a brief familial intervention on schizophrenic the patient’s
levels of psychopathology and their primary caregiver’s functioning in India. Caregiver functioning was
measured by the caregiver’s levels of burden and coping along with the patient’s perceived level of
expressed emotion (EE). The participants were 18 schizophrenic patients and their related primary carer
from a medical facility in India. The patients’ levels of psychopathology and EE were assessed at baseline
and at completion of the study with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS; Kay et al., 1987)
and the Family Emotional Involvement And Criticism Scale (FEICS; Shields et al., 1992), respectively. The
primary caregiver’s levels of burden and coping were also measured at baseline and upon completion of
the study by the Burden Assessment Scale (BAS; Thara et al., 1998) and the Family Crisis Oriented
Personal Evaluation Scale (F-COPES; McCubbin et al., 1981), respectively. The brief intervention was
comprised of 3 one hour sessions aimed at educating the primary caregiver and patient about
schizophrenia; along with improving their communication, problem solving skills and expression of
emotions. A significant improvement was found between baseline and the final 3-month follow-up on
measures of psychopathology for the patients, as well as family functioning for both the caregivers and
patients. The implications of the findings are discussed, along with future research directions.