Schizophrenic patients with families high in Expressed Emotion (EE) - a psychological construct that combines critical comments and emotional overinvolvement- have higher rates of relapse. The common interpretation of this finding has been that high EE parents stress the patients, thus exacerbating the schizophrenic symptoms to the point of disease relapse. Suzanne King, PhD, has published evidence supporting the role of EE as a reflection of the severity of the patient's illness, rather than a reflection of a noxious family attitude.

A researcher at the Douglas Institute Research Centre since 1988, Suzanne King is also investigating the ways in which risk factors for schizophrenia, such as prenatal stress, obstetric complications, childhood trauma and premorbid cannabis use influence the illness presentations of people with schizophrenia.

In addition, Suzanne King and her team have been following more than 150 women who were pregnant at the time of the January 1998 ice storm, along with their babies, in order to study the effects of prenatal stress, prospectively. They have found that second-trimester exposure to the stressor is associated with a significantly greater risk of premature birth and lower birth weights. And more severe exposure to the storm, especially during the second trimester, is associated with a significantly lower IQ and language development at ages two and 5 years.