Structural model of primary maladaptive schemas and insecure attachment style with social anxiety disorder: the mediating role of anxiety sensitivity

The present study was conducted with the aim of explaining the symptoms of social anxiety disorder based on primary maladaptive schemas and insecure attachment style with the mediating role of anxiety sensitivity.

The research method was correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research included all students of the University of Science and Research in the academic year of 2022 in Tehran province which were selected as a multi-stage random sampling. The number of 306 people who scored higher than 40 in the Connor social anxiety questionnaire. Data collection tools included Early Maladaptive Schemas Questionnaire, Attachment Styles Questionnaire, Anxiety Sensitivity Questionnaire and Social Anxiety Questionnaire. In order to analyze the obtained data, SPSS19 and AMOS24 software were used.

The predictor variables of primary maladaptive schemas and insecure attachment style directly and indirectly with the mediation of anxiety sensitivity had a significant effect on social anxiety disorder (p<0/01). Also, anxiety sensitivity had a direct effect on social anxiety disorder (p<0/01).

Based on the results of the research, it can be concluded that early maladaptive schemas and insecure attachment style can be strong predictors of social anxiety disorder, and in the meantime, anxiety sensitivity as a mediating variable is part of the influencing process in the form of Taking signs of social anxiety.