[Family expressed emotion. From research to therapeutic intervention].

The Expressed Emotion (EE) index is today one of the most important tools to evaluate the effect of family environment on the course of schizophrenia. The A. critically examine many experimental researches, performed on the EE index during the past 15 years, reporting the results of the first Italian replication study. The psychoeducational family interventions (originated by the EE research) are then considered, with particular attention to the treatment conceived by the team of the Association for the Research on Schizophrenia (A.R.S.). In the final section of the paper, the A. propose an extension of the EE research to families with chronic organic pathologies, reporting some preliminary results.