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The Spanish Validation of Level of Expressed Emotion Scale for Relatives of People with Eating Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Ana R. Sepúlveda ,
Dimitra Anastasiadou ,
Ana María del Río  and
Montserrat Graell
Ana R. Sepúlveda*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Dimitra Anastasiadou
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Ana María del Río
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Montserrat Graell
Affiliation:
Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ana R. Sepúlveda. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Campus de Cantoblanco. 28049 Madrid (Spain). Phone: +34-914975214. E-mail: anarosa.sepulveda@uam.es
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Abstract

Expressed emotion (EE) is considered a general predictor of poor outcome across a range of conditions, including eating disorders, and is valuable in measuring the effect of family interventions. There are no self-report questionnaires validated in Spanish to measure EE among relatives of patients with a psychiatric condition. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Level of Expressed Emotion scale (LEE) among relatives of eating disorder patients. A cross-sectional study of 270 relatives of patients with an eating disorder was conducted to examine the factor structure, reliability and validity of the LEE scale. Results indicated that the LEE-S (Spanish version) did not correspond to the a priori subscales described in the original version. The refined 45-item LEE-S scale consisted of four factors which explained 25.5% of variance in EE for relatives. Reliability was acceptable (α ranged from .73 to .86). The discriminant validity of the subscales was moderately supported by correlations with psychological distress (GHQ-12; rho = .34) and specific caregiving experience (EDSIS; rho = .39). The LEE-S instrument has adequate psychometric properties and may be of value to assess families at risk of a negative emotional climate at home.

La Emoción Expresada (EE) se ha considerado una variable general del mal pronóstico en una variedad de condiciones psiquiátricas, incluyendo los trastornos del comportamiento alimentario (TCA), y ha sido útil para medir su efecto en intervenciones familiares. Hasta la fecha, no existen cuestionarios autoinformados validados en castellano para medir la EE en familiares de pacientes con una enfermedad psiquiátrica. El objetivo del presente estudio fue examinar las propiedades psicométricas de la versión española de la escala del Nivel de Emoción Expresada (LEE-S) en familias de pacientes con un TCA. Se ha llevado a cabo un estudio transversal, cuya muestra es de 270 familiares de pacientes con TCA, para examinar la estructura factorial, la fiabilidad y la validez de la escala. Los resultados indicaron que la estructura factorial del LEE-S no se corresponde exactamente con las subescalas descritas a priori en la versión original. La nueva versión refinada del LEE-S es de 45 ítems y consta de cuatro factores que explicaron el 25,5% de la varianza en la EE de los familiares. La fiabilidad fue aceptable (α entre .73 y .86). En cuanto a la validez discriminante, las subescalas del LEE-S correlacionaron moderadamente con el malestar psicológico (GHQ-12, rho = .34) y la experiencia específica del cuidado en TCA (EDSIS; rho = .39). El instrumento LEE-S posee propiedades psicométricas adecuadas y puede ser útil para evaluar las familias con un riesgo de estar expuestas a un clima emocional negativo en su hogar.

Keywords

Level of Expressed Emotion Scaleeating disordersinstrument validationreliabilityEscala del Nivel de Emoción Expresadatrastornos del comportamiento alimentariovalidaciónfiabilidad del instrumento
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 825 - 839
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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