Expressed Emotion and Quality of Parental Relationships as Predictors of Emotional Well-Being in College Students

In psychotherapy research, the parent child relationship is often considered to have a significant formative influence on an individual's psychological and psychosocial functioning (Mattanah, Lopez, and Govern, 2011). Greater parental support has been found to relate to youth autonomy (Levitt, Silver, & Santos, 2007), reduced alcohol use (Ryan, Jorm, & Lubman, 2010), increased physical activity (Sallis, Prochasa, & Taylor, 2000), and better sociocultural and academic adjustment (Holmbeck & Wandrei, 1993). While family members often provide one another with support, not infrequently, family relationships are also a source of emotional distress and conflict that can harm well-being. Because of the plethora of attitudinal, emotional, and functional changes (e.g., autonomy) that occur during the transition to college, heightened parent child conflict during this phase is not uncommon. Thus, college students are an ideal sample in which to examine the role of family attitudes and conflict on emotional adjustment.Several theories have been developed to better understand the profound impact of close relationships on well-being. One theory is that attitudes and attributions are likely to mediate the impact of the conflict to determine later relationship satisfaction, subsequent behavioral responses to the conflict and depression (Fincham, Bradbury, & Grych, 1990; Gordon, Friedman, Miller, & Gaertner, 2005). Attributions are loosely defined as an individuaFs causal explanation of an event (Weiner, 1986). Fincham et al. purport that attitudes (i.e., attributions), are as important, if not more important, than what is actually said or done during a conflict.The association between attributions and relationship quality may be understood through a construct called expressed emotion. Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of a relational environment that reflects the amount of criticism, hostility, and emotional over-involvement (i.e., extreme protectiveness and excessive concern) expressed by one relative towards another (Leff & Vaughn, 1985; Weisman de Mamani, 2010). Those who speak about a relative in a critical or emotionally over-involved manner are classified as high EE; those who do not express a certain number of critical comments or emotionally over-involved remarks are classified as low EE. Extensive research has demonstrated that EE predicts the course and outcome for numerous disorders, including, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse, Alzheimer's disease, personality disorders, agoraphobia, and some childhood disorders (as cited in Wearden, Tarrier, Barrowclough, Zastowny, & Rahill 2000). Some evidence also suggests that holding high EE attitudes towards one's child may also result in poorer parental well-being for the parent. For instance, Bolton et al. (2003) found that, mothers classified as high EE towards a child/adolescent with behavioral problems, compared to mothers rated as low EE, displayed significantly greater depressive symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory. Little attention has been given, however, to how EE functions in normative populations and to how adolescent EE towards their parents relates to the adolescents' own mental well-being. Having a better grasp of how attitudes towards parents relate to adolescent/early adulthood well-being may be useful in helping clinicians respond to college students' emotional and psychological needs. This is especially true given that a common presenting problem at university counseling centers involves concerns and difficulties related to familial dysfunction, including parent-child relationships (Stone & Archer, 1990). Thus, the present study is aimed at better understanding the associations among attitudes (as measured through the construct of EE) and parent-offspring relationship quality (i.e., relationship conflict and relationship satisfaction). …