Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Greek version of the Family Questionnaire for assessing expressed emotion

Compr Psychiatry. 2014 May;55(4):1038-49. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.02.017. Epub 2014 Mar 5.

Abstract

Expressed emotion (EE) has proved to be an established factor in short-term relapse in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Family Questionnaire (FQ), a brief self-report questionnaire measuring the EE status of relatives of patients with schizophrenia in terms of criticism (CC) and emotional overinvolvement (EOI). The translated and adapted 20-item FQ was administered to 176 family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Caregivers' burden (Family Burden Scale) and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-28) were also evaluated. The findings indicated that the Greek version displays a two-factor structure with two subscales of EE-CC and EOI-with 10 items each, similarly to the original version. The convergent validity of the subscales was highly supported by correlations with caregivers' burden and psychological distress. The Cronbach's α coefficient measuring internal consistency for the two scales were 0.90 for CC and 0.82 for EOI. The test-retest correlation coefficients measuring reproducibility were 0.99 and 0.98 for CC and EOI, respectively. The Greek version of the FQ appears to be a valid and reliable instrument to be used in both research and clinical assessment of family EE.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Bipolar Disorder / nursing*
  • Caregivers / psychology*
  • Cost of Illness*
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Expressed Emotion*
  • Female
  • Greece
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Schizophrenia / nursing*
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Translations
  • Young Adult