Factor Analysis of the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form in a Nonclinical Iranian Sample

This study was carried out with the aim of studying the features of the Young Schema Questionnaire in nonclinical population. In a descriptive cross-sectional study 37 postgraduate male students of Shahed and Shahid Beheshti universities in Tehran who were selected using stratified random method completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF). Data were analyzed using correlation coefficient and analysis of variance. The results of the factor analysis revealed 17 factors as follows: Seven intact scales (five out of five items), three scales with four items, two with three items, and one with two items. Also, the two YSQ-SF original scales merged into one factor. The results yielded interpretable scales for all 15 schema subscales proposed by Young. These 15 subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. Higher-order principal component analysis yielded three higher order factors in line with previous findings. These results are consistent with previous results based on the English, French and Dutch versions of the YSQ-SF and provided support for the cross-cultural validity of the YSQ-SF.