Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T03:04:44.539Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are Schemas Passed on? A Study on the Association Between Early Maladaptive Schemas in Parents and Their Offspring and the Putative Translating Mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2018

Johanna Sundag ,
Christine Zens ,
Leonie Ascone ,
Susanne Thome  and
Tania M. Lincoln
Johanna Sundag*
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Christine Zens
Affiliation:
Institute of Schema Therapy Hamburg, Germany
Leonie Ascone
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Susanne Thome
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Tania M. Lincoln
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
*
*Correspondence to Johanna Sundag, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 5, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: According to Young's schema theory, Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMSs) arise due to the violation of core emotional needs during childhood. It seems likely that parents have difficulties in satisfying their children's emotional needs if they have high levels of EMSs themselves. Aims: This study investigated whether the extent of EMSs in parents is associated with the extent of EMSs in their offspring. Moreover, we tested for two putative mechanisms that account for this association: parental coping styles and parenting behaviour. Methods: Sixty dyads of parents (mother or father) and their adult children (N = 120), recruited from the general population, completed the Young Schema Questionnaire. The parents rated their schema coping styles and the children retrospectively rated the parenting of the participating parent. Results: As expected, parents' EMSs were significantly associated with EMSs in their offspring. This association was accounted for by the parental coping style Overcompensation and the adverse parenting that the child remembered. The parental coping style Avoidance did not account for the association. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence for the notion that EMSs are passed on from one generation to the next via parental coping and parenting. Our findings thus support the assumption of schema theory that EMSs are connected to the family environment in terms of adverse parenting. If further confirmed, this has relevant implications for family-based interventions.

Keywords

schema therapyschema theoryearly maladaptive schemasschema coping stylesovercompensationavoidanceparenting behaviour
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 46 , Issue 6 , November 2018 , pp. 738 - 753
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Assel, M. A., Landry, S. H., Swank, P. R., Steelman, L., Miller-Loncar, C. and Smith, K. E. (2002). How do mothers’ childrearing histories, stress and parenting affect children's behavioural outcomes? Child: Care, Health and Development, 28, 359–368.Google Scholar
Egle, U. T., Hoffmann, S. O. and Steffens, M. (1997). Psychosocial risk and protective factors in childhood and adolescence as predisposition for psychiatric disorders in adulthood. Current status of research. Nervenarzt, 68, 683–695.Google Scholar
Fryers, T. and Brugha, T. (2013). Childhood determinants of adult psychiatric disorder. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 9, 1–50.Google Scholar
Grutschpalk, J. (2009). Diagnostik im Rahmen der Schematherapie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Persönlichkeitsakzentuierungen [Diagnostic in the context of schema therapy with special consideration of the personality disorders]. Dissertation, Universität Hamburg.Google Scholar
Hawke, L. D. and Provencher, M. D. (2012). Early maladaptive schemas among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 136, 803–811.Google Scholar
Hayes, A. F. (2014). PROCESS Procedure for SPSS 2.13.Google Scholar
Hettema, J. M., Neale, M. C. and Kendler, K. S. (2001). A review and meta-analysis of the genetic epidemiology of anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1568–1578.Google Scholar
Hill, C., Stein, J., Keenan, K. and Wakschlag, L. S. (2006). Mother's childrearing history and current parenting: patterns of association and the moderating role of current life stress. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 412–419.Google Scholar
Jalali, M. R., Zargar, M., Salavati, M. and Kakavand, A. R. (2011). Comparison of Early Maladaptive Schemas and parenting origins in patients with opioid abuse and non-abusers. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 6, 54–60.Google Scholar
Jovev, M. and Jackson, H. J. (2004). Early maladaptive schemas in personality disordered individuals. Journal of Personality Disorder, 18, 467–478.Google Scholar
Karaosmanoğlu, H. A., Soygüt, G. and Kabul, A. (2013). Psychometric properties of the Turkish Young Compensation Inventory. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 20, 171–179.Google Scholar
Khajouei Nia, M., Sovani, A. and Sarami Forooshani, G. R. (2014). Exploring correlation between perceived parenting styles, Early Maladaptive Schemas, and depression among women with depressive symptoms in Iran and India – role of Early Maladaptive Schemas as mediators and moderators. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 16, e17492.Google Scholar
Kriston, L., Schäfer, J., Jacob, G. A., Härter, M. and Hölzel, L. P. (2013). Reliability and validity of the German version of the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 29, 205–212.Google Scholar
Kriston, L., Schäfer, J., Von Wolff, A., Härter, M. and Hölzel, L. P. (2012). The latent factor structure of Young's early maladaptive schemas: are schemas organized into domains? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 68, 684–698.Google Scholar
Luck, A., Waller, G., Meyer, C., Ussher, M. and Lacey, H. (2005). The role of schema processes in the eating disorders. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 717–732.Google Scholar
Lumley, M. N. and Harkness, K. L. (2007). Specificity in the relations among childhood adversity, early maladaptive schemas, and symptom profiles in adolescent depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 31, 639–657.Google Scholar
Morgan, Z., Brugha, T., Fryers, T. and Stewart-Brown, S. (2012). The effects of parent–child relationships on later life mental health status in two national birth cohorts. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47, 1707–1715.Google Scholar
Muris, P. (2006). Maladaptive schemas in non-clinical adolescents: relations to perceived parental rearing behaviours, Big Five personality factors and psychopathological symptoms. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 13, 405–413.Google Scholar
Preacher, K. J. and Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, 36, 717–731.Google Scholar
Rasic, D., Hajek, T., Alda, M. and Uher, R. (2014). Risk of mental illness in offspring of parents with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of family high-risk studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 40, 28–38.Google Scholar
Renner, F., Lobbestael, J., Peeters, F., Arntz, A. and Huibers, M. (2012). Early maladaptive schemas in depressed patients: stability and relation with depressive symptoms over the course of treatment. Journal of Affective Disorders, 136, 581–590.Google Scholar
Schafer, M. H., Morton, P. M. and Ferraro, K. F. (2014). Child maltreatment and adult health in a national sample: heterogeneous relational contexts, divergent effects? Child Abuse and Neglect, 38, 395–406.Google Scholar
Sheffield, A., Waller, G., Emanuelli, F. and Murray, J. (2006). Is comorbidity in the eating disorders related to perceptions of parenting? Criterion validity of the revised Young Parenting Inventory. Eating Behaviors, 7, 37–45.Google Scholar
Sheffield, A., Waller, G., Emanuelli, F., Murray, J. and Meyer, C. (2005). Links between parenting and core beliefs: preliminary psychometric validation of the Young Parenting Inventory. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 787–802.Google Scholar
Shorey, R. C., Anderson, S. and Stuart, G. L. (2012). An examination of early maladaptive schemas among substance use treatment seekers and their parents. Contemporary Family Therapy, 34, 429–441.Google Scholar
Soygüt, G., Çakır, Z. and Karaosmanoğlu, A. (2008). Ebeveynlik biçimlerinin değerlendirilmesi: Young ebeveynlik ölçeğinin psikometrik özelliklerine ilişkin bir inceleme. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, 11, 17–30.Google Scholar
Spranger, S. C., Waller, G. and Bryant-Waugh, R. (2001). Schema avoidance in bulimic and non-eating-disordered women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29, 302–306.Google Scholar
Stewart-Brown, S. L., Fletcher, L. and Wadsworth, M. E. (2005). Parent–child relationships and health problems in adulthood in three UK national birth cohort studies. European Journal of Public Health, 15, 640–646.Google Scholar
Stopa, L. and Waters, A. (2005). The effect of mood on responses to the Young Schema Questionnaire: short form. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 78, 45–57.Google Scholar
Sullivan, P. F., Kendler, K. S. and Neale, M. C. (2003). Schizophrenia as a complex trait: evidence from a meta-analysis of twin studies. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 1187–1192.Google Scholar
Sullivan, P. F., Neale, M. C. and Kendler, K. S. (2000). Genetic epidemiology of major depression: review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1552–1562.Google Scholar
Sundag, J., Ascone, L. and Lincoln, T. M. (2017). The predictive value of early maladaptive schemas in paranoid responses to social stress. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy.Google Scholar
Sundag, J., Ascone, L. and Lincoln, T. M. (2018). The predictive value of early maladaptive schemas in paranoid responses to social stress. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 25, 65–75.Google Scholar
Unoka, Z., Tolgyes, T., Czobor, P. and Simon, L. (2010). Eating disorder behavior and early maladaptive schemas in subgroups of eating disorders. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 198, 425–431.Google Scholar
Valentini, F., Alchieri, J. C. and Laros, J. A. (2013). Validity evidence for the reduced version of the Young Parenting Inventory (YPI). Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 23, 293–300.Google Scholar
van Genderen, H., Rijkeboer, M. and Arntz, A. (2012). Theoretical Model. In Vreeswijk, M. van, Broersen, J. and Nadort, M. (eds), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Schema Therapy (pp. 27–40). John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.Google Scholar
Verhage, M. L., Schuengel, C., Madigan, S., Fearon, R. M., Oosterman, M., Cassibba, R., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. and Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2016). Narrowing the transmission gap: a synthesis of three decades of research on intergenerational transmission of attachment. Psychological Bulletin, 142, 337–366.Google Scholar
Wright, M. O., Crawford, E. and Del Castillo, D. (2009). Childhood emotional maltreatment and later psychological distress among college students: the mediating role of maladaptive schemas. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33, 59–68.Google Scholar
Young, J. E. (1990). Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders. Sarasota, Florida: Professional Resources Press.Google Scholar
Young, J. E. (1999). Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders: a Schema-Focused Approach (rev. ed.). Sarasota, Florida: Professional Resources Press.Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Berbalk, H., Grutschpalk, J., Zarbock, G. and Zaum, J. (2006). Young Compensation Inventory (German version).Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Berbalk, H., Grutschpalk, J., Zarbock, G. and Zaum, J. (2007). Young Parenting Inventory (German version).Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Brown, G., Baumann-Frankenberger, P., Grutschpalk, J. and Berbalk, H. (2010). Young Schema Questionnaire-short form 3, revised (German version).Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S. and Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema Therapy: a Practitioner's Guide. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Rygh, J., Berbalk, H., Grutschpalk, J., Zarbock, G. and Zaum, J. (2007). Young–Rygh Avoidance Inventory (German version, YRAI-1).Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.