This application represents a competing renewal of a project designed to examine family interactions and the outcome of family treatment for schizophrenia. Videotapes of problem solving discussions between 256 schizophrenia patients and their relatives participating in a well- controlled clinical trial were secured on one, two or three occasions over a 2-year period. Extensive clinical data and ratings of parent attitudes about the patient were collected as well. The goals of the original project (evaluation of the family treatments) dictated specific methodological choices in the structure and content of the coding system developed for the study. We request funds in this renewal application to address questions not within the scope of the original project, especially in regard to: negative reciprocity and other sequential patterns of interaction, and patients' response to negative affect. These issues will be examined in relationship to gender differences and symptomatology. The project will entail recoding of a large portion of the tapes and the use of data analytic methods not fully available at the time of the original proposal. Our library of videotapes is a unique resource. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to advance our understanding of family processes associated with the illness. Our proposed research will shed light on the affective climate in families with a schizophrenia proband, and provide information necessary for the development of new and more effective treatment strategies.
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