The Relationships between Personality Disorders and Early Maladaptive Schemas and the Moderating Role of Gender

The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between personality disorders (PDs) and early maladaptive schemas, to determine the early maladaptive schemas that predict PDs, and to investigate the moderating role of gender in the relationship between PDs and early maladaptive schemas.

The sample consisted of 654 participants, 368 (56.4%) women and 286 (43.6%) men, aged 18-75 years, determined by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Coolidge Axis II Inventory Plus Turkish Short Form and Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3.

From regression analysis, it was determined that each PD had a specific early maladaptive schema profile. According to the analysis, the schema that predicts the most for paranoid, schizotypal, schizoid, antisocial, borderline, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant PDs is social isolation/mistrust; for histrionic and narcissistic PDs, the schema is approval seeking, and for dependent PD, it is failure. The analysis related to the moderating role of gender indicated that for women, the emotional deprivation schema is a risk factor for paranoid PD, and the schemas of self-sacrifice, punitiveness, and unrelenting standards are the risk factors for avoidant PD.

This study discovered that some early maladaptive schemas were predictors of PDs and that gender had a moderating role in the relationship between these variables. It is thought that paying attention to the moderating role of gender and considering the specific schema profiles of each PD will be beneficial for intervention programs for early maladaptive schemas and understanding the etiology of PDs.