Early maladaptive schemas and personality disorder symptoms: An examination in a non-clinical sample

This study aimed to examine the overall and specific relationship between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and personality disorder (PD) symptoms in a non-clinical sample.

While a notable previous study has examined the relationship between EMSs and PD symptoms after statistically controlling for gender and within-cluster PD symptoms, they did not control for comorbid axis I and inter-cluster PD symptoms. Hence, we redressed this methodological problem by statistically controlling for these conditions in a series of multiple regressions.

In a sample of 178 non-clinical participants, we obtained self-reports of PD symptoms, depression, anxiety, eating disorder, and EMSs.

Results of a series of multiple regressions found that EMSs significantly predicted all PD symptoms apart from borderline and antisocial PDs and our hypotheses were largely consistent with hypotheses for cluster A and C PDs. We also found that specific EMSs differentially predicted PD subtypes even after controlling for other PD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms.

This study supports the contention that PDs are related to EMSs and there are specific relationships between particular EMSs and particular PDs.