Validation of the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form in a Flemish Community Sample

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS) are dysfunctional beliefs often seen in personality disorders.
• The Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ) assesses these schemas.
• Previous research has focused on the YSQ Short Form (YSQ-SF) with 15 EMS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the YSQ-SF with 15 EMS.
• To examine an extended version of the YSQ-SF including 16 EMS.
• To assess these instruments in a community sample.

Main Methods:

• A community sample of 672 participants (51% female, mean age 44.34) completed the YSQ-SF (15 and 16 EMS).
• Factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity (correlations with Big Five traits) were analyzed.
• Gender and age differences were also examined.

Main Results:

• Both the 15 and 16-factor solutions of the YSQ-SF demonstrated good internal consistency.
• Significant gender differences were found for Self-Sacrifice and Entitlement schemas.
• Age showed correlations with Insufficient Self-Control, Enmeshment, and Self-Sacrifice.
• Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with various schema scales.

Conclusions:

• Both YSQ-SF15 and YSQ-SF16 are valid instruments for assessing EMS in a Flemish community sample.
• The YSQ-SF16, including the Social Undesirability schema, offers additive value in predicting lower Extraversion and Openness.
• The use of the YSQ-SF16 is recommended due to its enhanced predictive utility.