A Comparative Study of Emotion Regulation Strategies and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Individuals with and without Panic Disorder

Characterized by recurrent unexpected attacks, panic disorder refers to one of the anxiety disorders, reaching its peak within a few minutes and being associated with various physical and cognitive symptoms like problems in emotional processing and information processing. The present research was carried out aiming at comparing emotion regulation strategies and early maladaptive schemas in individuals with and without panic disorder. To perform this causal-comparative study, 30 individuals with panic disorder referring to the psychiatric treatment centers of the city of Gorgan (Iran) and 30 of their normal counterparts were selected by purposive sampling method and  they completed The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) , and The Yang Early Maladaptive Schemas Questionnaire (YEMSQ).Data were analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) by SPSS software.  According to the findings, compared to their normal counterparts, individuals with panic disorder showed lower scores in the cognitive reappraisal strategy (P<0.05), besides higher scores in the emotional suppression strategy (P<0.05) and all the domains of early incompatible schemas (P<0.05). Given the present findings, training emotional regulation methods for the public as well as interventions aimed at treating early maladaptive schemas may play an effective role in preventing anxiety disorders, particularly panic disorders.