Antecedents and Consequences of Schema Modes among Adults

Abstract

Personality disorders (PDs) have a long history of understanding the causes and consequences of PDs. The Schema Theory explained a series of psychological processes that led to the genesis of PDs, rather than the antecedents-consequences dichotomy. Bad childhood events, according to Young's Schema Theory, contribute to the formation of childhood negative cognitive schemas, some of which (schemas) survive into adulthood and transform into PDs. The same theoretically proposed strategy was tested in this investigation. Mediating role of schema modes between emotional maltreatment and PDs in adults was investigated. The study was conducted with 1000 adults by using cross-sectional survey design. Mediation analysis explained that schema modes mediated between emotional maltreatments and PDs of adults. Thus, the Schema Theory gained support from the empirical data. Schema modes mediated for all personality clusters including cluster-A, B and C. In line with these empirical insights, the maladaptive personality traits also mediated between emotional maltreatments and PDs of adults