Association between early maladaptive schemas, emotion regulation and psychopathology

Sammanfattning

Although previous research has examined the association between emotion regulation (ER) and psychopathology, early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and psychopathology, as well as EMS and ER, few studies have integrated these important aspects. This study aimed to contribute to this understanding and highlights how EMS and ER can shape individuals’ psychological health with an integrative perspective, as well as point to potential future research. A total of 137 non-clinical individuals participated in the online survey, however, 56 participants were excluded from the final analysis due to incomplete responses. Data were collected through an online survey completed by participants, including the Young Schema Questionnaire, Short Form 3(YSQ-s3; Young, 2005), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis, 1975), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003). The results showed significant correlations between EMS, ER and psychopathology. In particular EMS and maladaptive ER strategies predicted psychopathology, suggesting that these factors are closely associated with psychological symptoms. Impaired autonomy & performance and disconnection & rejection domains were positively it associated with Expressive suppression. In addition, somatization and phobic anxiety were positively correlated with expressive suppression (ES). Although mediation analysis was conducted to investigate indirect pathways from EMS to psychopathology through ER, these effects were not statistically significant. One possible explanation is that the limited sample size may have reduced the statistical power to detect such effects.. In contrast to previous studies no gender differences were observed regarding the choice of ER strategies. These findings may enhance case conceptualization, prevention strategies. Given the exploratory nature of several analyses and the small sample size, the findings should be interpreted with caution.