Understanding the interrelationships between expressed emotion, burden and distress in caregivers of individuals with psychotic disorder: A staged approach

Caregivers of individuals with psychotic disorder are at risk of their own poor outcomes including experiencing high levels of distress. Expressed emotion (EE, e.g., emotional overinvolvement and critical comments) and experiences of burden can contribute to distress. There is a lot of research that has been conducted on caregivers of individuals with chronic schizophrenia, and a growing body of literature focusing on the early stage or first episode psychosis. There has been a lack of consideration as to whether the severity of distress, as well as the interrelationships between EE, burden and distress, varies as a function of the stage of disorder in the care recipient. If these factors are moderated by stage of disorder, then different supports might be needed for caregivers caring for a young person with psychosis versus those caring for adults with later stages of disorder. This research program will involve systematic review/meta analysis of the literature; which would be suitable for a Masters (Clinical) research topic. It could also be extended to a PhD (Clinical) research program.