Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T22:06:45.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Mediating Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in the Relation between Quality of Attachment Relationships and Symptoms of Depression in Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2011

Jeffrey Roelofs*
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Chris Lee
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, Australia
Tamara Ruijten
Affiliation:
Youth Department of Community Mental Health Center, Roermond, Netherlands
Jill Lobbestael
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, The Netherlands
*
Reprint requests to Jeffrey Roelofs, Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, PO Box 616 6200 MD, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Background: Quality of attachment relations between adolescents and their parents and peers may be related to early maladaptive schemas as well as to symptoms of depression. Aims: The aim of the current study was to assess whether schema domains and maladaptive schemas mediate the relation between indices of quality of attachment relationships with parents and peers and symptoms of depression in non-clinical adolescents (N = 222). Method: A battery of questionnaires was completed, including measures of quality of attachment relations, maladaptive schemas, and depression. Results: The schema domains of disconnection and rejection and other-directedness mediated the relation between quality of attachment relationships and symptoms of depression. More precisely, the schemas’ mistrust/abuse and social isolation mediated the relation between trust in parents and depressive symptoms, whereas the schemas’ social isolation and self-sacrifice mediated the relation between alienation from peers and symptoms of depression. Conclusions: The mediation analyses suggest that treatment of adolescent depression could be focused on both attachment bonds and on changing maladaptive schemas.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2011

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

Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. Y., Smith, J. M., Gibb, B. E. and Neeren, A. M. (2006). Role of parenting and maltreatment histories in unipolar and bipolar mood disorders: mediation by cognitive vulnerability to depression. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 9, 2364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ambrosini, P. J., Metz, C., Bianchi, M. D., Rabinovich, H. and Undie, A. (1991). Concurrent validity and psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory in outpatient adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 5157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Armsden, G. C. and Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 11731182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T. (1964). Thinking and depression: 2. theory and therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 10, 561571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. and Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Bosmans, G., Braet, C. and van Vlierberghe, L. (2010). Attachment and symptoms of psychopathology: early maladaptive schemas as a cognitive link? Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 17, 374385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diamond, G., Siqueland, L. and Diamond, G. M. (2003). Attachment-based family therapy for depressed adolescents: programmatic treatment development. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 107127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, J. and Goldwyn, R. (2002). Attachment disorganisation and psychopathology: new findings in attachment research and their potential implications for developmental psychopathology in childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 835846.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gullone, E. and Robinson, K. (2005). The inventory of parent and peer attachment – revised (IPPA-R) for children: a psychometric investigation. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 12, 6779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, T. D., Bovaird, J. A. and Card, N. A. (2007). Modeling Contextual Effects in Longitudinal Studies. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.CrossRefGoogle 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, 639657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolese, S. K., Markiewicz, D. and Doyle, A. B. (2005). Attachment to parents, best friends, and romantic partner: predicting different pathways to depression in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 637650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mash, E. J. and Dozois, D. J. A. (2003). Child psychopathology: a developmental-systems perspective. In: Mash, E. J. and Barkley, R. A., Child Psychopathology (2nd edn.) (pp. 374). New York: The Guilford Press.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, 405413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muris, P., Meesters, C. M. G., van Melick, M. and Zwambag, L. (1991). Self-reported attachment style, attachment quality, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 809818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preacher, K. J. and Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riso, L. P., du Toit, P. L., Stein, D. J. and Young, J. E. (2007). Cognitive Schemas and Core Beliefs in Psychological Problems: a scientist-practitioner guide. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. E., Gotlib, I. H. and Kassel, J. D. (1996). Adult attachment security and symptoms of depression: the mediating roles of dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 310320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, K. H. and Mills, R. (1988). The many faces of social isolation in childhood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 916924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, R. and Waller, G. (2000). Parental style and vulnerability to depression: the role of core beliefs. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 188, 1925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stice, E., Ragan, J. and Randall, P. (2004). Prospective relations between social support for depression: differential direction of effects for parent and peer support. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 155159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Der Does, A. J. W. (2002). Handleiding bij de Nederlandse versie van Beck Depression Inventory (2nd edn.) (BDI-II-NL). Amsterdam, NL: Harcourt.Google Scholar
van Vlierberghe, Braet, C., Bosmans, G., Rosseel, Y. and Bögels, S. (2010). Maladaptive schemas and psychopathology in adolescence: on the utility of Young's schema theory in youth. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 316332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, J. E. (1994). Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders: a schema focused approach (2nd edn.). Sarasota: Professional Resource Exchange.Google Scholar
Young, J. E. and Brown, G. (1990). Young Schema Questionnaire. New York: Cognitive Therapy Center of New York.Google Scholar
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S. and Weishaar, M. (2003). Schema Therapy: a practitioner's guide. New York: Guilford Publications.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.