The link between expressed emotion (EE), relapse rate and the length of rehospitalization in the 12 months after index discharge was investigated in a sample of 125 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective psychosis. The results showed that EE was the best single predictor of relapse and that patients from high EE families spent three times as long in hospital as patients from low EE families. The protective impact of regular antipsychotic medication and low face-to-face contact with relatives was found in patients both from high and low EE families.