A Comparative Study of Early Maladaptive Schemas in Non-Clinical Anxious, Depressed and Healthy Individuals

This study aimed to compare the early maladaptive schemas in non-clinical anxious, depressed and healthy individuals. The study type was causal-comparative. The study sample included 600 female students (200 anxious, 200 depressed, and 200 healthy) who were selected from high school of Chaypareh city by purposeful sampling method. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data. Based on the findings, depressed patients in comparison with the other two groups had significantly higher strict criteria schemas. On the other hand, depressed and anxious individuals got higher scores in the dependence/ incompetence schema, in comparison with the healthy students. Based on the findings of this study, concentrating on understanding predictive factors of early maladaptive schemas in treatment and counseling interventions of people with depression and anxiety can form an important part of their treatment.