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Impact of Self-Help Schema Therapy on Psychological Distress and Early Maladaptive Schemas: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

Margaret Priemer ,
France Talbot  and
Douglas J. French
Margaret Priemer
Affiliation:
Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
France Talbot*
Affiliation:
Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Douglas J. French
Affiliation:
Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
*
Address for correspondence: France Talbot, PhD, LPsych, Associate Professor of Psychology, School of Psychology, Université de Moncton, 18 Antonine-Maillet Avenue, Moncton, NB, Canada, E1A 3E9. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Self-help cognitive behaviour therapy has been found helpful in treating anxiety and depression. Recent evidence suggests that self-help schema therapy may represent another treatment alternative. The present study aimed to provide a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of self-help schema therapy on psychological distress and early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) using a 6-week treatment protocol with minimal email contact. Method: Participants were recruited from the general population and randomly assigned to self-help schema therapy (n = 32) or a waitlist (n = 32). Intent-to-treat analyses and study completer analyses were conducted using repeated-measures analyses of variance (time × group). Results: Intent-to-treat analyses revealed that treatment produced a marginal improvement in distress, but no change in EMSs. Among study completers (n = 34), self-help schema therapy yielded large reductions in distress scores on the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (partial eta squared = .16). Compared to the waitlist, self-help schema therapy also produced a moderate decrease in EMSs (partial eta squared = .10). The majority of study completers showed reliable clinical change in distress and reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. Conclusion: Self-help schema therapy may be an effective treatment for those individuals who persist in treatment. Self-help schema therapy has the potential to help a large number of individuals who may not otherwise have access to services. More research is needed to determine variables associated with treatment adherence and successful outcome.

Keywords

self-helpschema therapydistressschemasanxietydepression
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , April 2015 , pp. 59 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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