[Relationship between early maladaptive schemas and quality of life in women with infertility]

Prolonged childlessness, despite the desire to have children, imposes burdens across somatic, psychological, and social-relational domains. These challenges may be further amplified by early maladaptive schemas, which shape emotional functioning, self-esteem, and stress regulation, thereby potentially influencing quality of life and experiences related to fertility treatments.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of early maladaptive schemas on the quality of life of infertile women and to explore the associations between these schemas and personality factors that may modulate the quality of life.

The present study was part of a larger research project including 179 Hungarian women: 58 fertile women, 46 women with infertility of organic origin, and 75 women with infertility of functional origin. Participants completed an online battery of questionnaires, including the Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQol) instrument, the short form of the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-S3), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES-H), the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and sociodemographic questions.

Early maladaptive schemas were strongly associated with the quality of life among infertile women, particularly the Emotional Deprivation, Negativism-Pessimism, Self-Sacrifice, and Unrelenting Standards/Hypercriticalness schemas. Women with organic infertility reported significantly higher levels of emotional deprivation, whereas in the functional infertility group, certain schemas (e.g., Negativism-Pessimism) predicted quality of life outcomes. The findings suggest that maladaptive schemas may indirectly influence psychological well-being through their effects on self-esteem, resilience, and neuroticism.

These results highlight the importance of considering emotional and cognitive patterns, alongside personality traits, in the psychological assessment of infertility. Such insights may contribute to the development of more targeted and effective interventions for women experiencing infertility. Orv Hetil. 2026; 167(8): 309-316.