Testing the Psychometric Properties of a Chinese Version of the Level of Expressed Emotion Scale

Table 1

Characteristics of patients with severe mental illness and nonrespondents.

Characteristics	Respondents; (𝑛=262); 𝐹 (%)	Those refusals; (𝑛=59); 𝐹 (%)	Chi-square or; 𝑡 test value
Gender			𝜒^2=2.08
Female	102 (38.9)	22 (37.3)
Male	160 (61.1)	37 (62.7)
Education level			𝜒^2=2.19
Primary school or below	30 (11.5)	6 (10.2)
Secondary school	181 (69.1)	42 (71.2)
Tertiary (e.g., university or postgraduate study)	51 (19.5)	11 (18.6)
Primary psychiatric diagnosis			𝜒^2=1.58
Bipolar affective disorders	12 (4.6)	3 (5.1)
Psychotic disorders	50 (19.1)	13 (22.0)
Schizophrenia	118 (45.0)	26 (44.1)
Unipolar affective disorders (e.g., major depression)	48 (18.3)	10 (16.9)
Others (e.g., personality disorders and dual diagnoses)	34 (13.0)	7 (11.9)
Psychiatric medications			𝜒^2=1.58
Antidepressants	50 (19.1)	11 (18.6)
Anticonvulsants	7 (2.7)	2 (3.4)
Atypical antipsychotics	90 (34.4)	19 (32.2)
Conventional antipsychotics	83 (31.7)	19 (32.2)
Lithium salts	6 (2.3)	1 (1.7)
Both anti-depressants and antipsychotics	20 (7.6)	4 (6.8)
Psychiatric treatments receiving			𝜒^2=1.48
CPN visits and education	178 (67.9)	30 (50.8)
Family therapy/education	32 (12.2)	8 (13.6)
Medication compliance management	102 (38.9)	16 (27.1)
Psychoeducation	98 (37.4)	28 (47.5)
Social and work skills training	87 (33.2)	19 (32.2)
Others (e.g., relaxation and self-regulation)	75 (28.6)	20 (33.9)
	M ± SD, range	M ± SD, range
Age (years)	29.12±10.05,; 19–45	29.45±8.91,; 20–46	𝑡=1.12
Duration of mental illness (months)	35.21±14.25,; 12–98	32.90±17.02,; 14–96	𝑡=1.98
Rehospitalization in the past 3 months
Number of readmissions	0.40±0.29	0.49±0.31	𝑡=3.38^∗
Length of rehospitalizations (days)	8.12±4.11	10.01±6.38	𝑡=2.16
Number of family members living with patient	2.25±0.98,; 1–5	2.13±0.98,; 1–4	𝑡=1.31
Average contact time with main caregiver (hours/week)	30.40±9.54,; 8–44	29.13±11.49,; 7–30	𝑡=1.04

^∗𝑃<0.05.