Each person is part of a whole, a complex emotional unit (the family) and any change in a part of a family system influence the individual.

The paper aim is to present an assessment of family functioning in patients diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder admitted for treatment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department Cluj-Napoca between 2009–2010, and to estimate how the model of family functioning influence the onset and the evolution of the disease.

We followed the identification of existing borders in the family, coalitions, rules, roles, taboo subjects, resources, expressed emotions (EE) in families taken in the study, positive remarks to the patient and warmth.

Expressed emotion (EE) refers to a construct encompassing several key aspects of close interpersonal relationships. It reflects critical, hostile or emotionally overinvolved attitudes on the part of a family member toward a relative with a disorder or impairment.

The studied families were shown to be heterogeneous in terms of structure, rules and roles assigned to the patients within the family, which has hampered the expression of general conclusions. However, the study revealed that the positive family involvement correlate with improvement in social functioning, while criticism and hostility are factors for relapse.