Emotional Schemas and Psychological Distress: Mediating Role of Resilience and Cognitive Flexibility

This study aimed to explore the structural relation of emotional schemas with psychological distress and evaluate the mediating role of resilience and cognitive flexibility in this relationship.

Participants were 300 students that voluntarily completed a questionnaire package that included the Leahy Emotional Schema Scale (LESS-P), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Then, we utilized the LISREL software for structural equation modeling.

Structural equation modeling and path analysis revealed the direct effects of adaptive and maladaptive emotional schemas on psychological distress. The results indicated that maladaptive emotional schemas indirectly affected psychological distress via resilience and cognitive flexibility (P < 0.01). In contrast, adaptive emotional schemas indirectly affected psychological distress via cognitive flexibility rather than resilience (P < 0.05). Evaluation of the proposed structural model revealed an acceptable fit.

The present research findings show the effect of emotional schemas on psychological distress via resilience and cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, the results suggest that resilience partially mediates the relationship between emotional schemas and psychological distress. At the same time, cognitive flexibility mediated this relationship.