Attitudes Toward Love, Emotional Maturity, and Early Maladaptive Schemas as Predictors of Spouse Selection in People on the Verge of Marriage

Background: In every culture, different criteria are considered for choosing a spouse, and some psychological factors predict spouse selection in people on the verge of marriage. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the role of attitudes toward love, emotional maturity, and early maladaptive schemas in predicting spouse selection in a sample of people on the verge of marriage. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2018. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, participants were selected using the convenience sampling method and evaluated by the Love Attitudes Scale, the Emotional Maturity Scale, the Young Early Maladaptive Schema Scale-short form, and the preference criteria of spouse selection inventory. Results: The results showed that Pragma love, lack of independence, and disconnection and rejection were the best predictors of the spouse selection process (R2 = 0.50; F = 11.62; P < 0.001). Also, Eros love, lack of independence, and impaired autonomy and performance were the best predictors of content spouse selection (R2 = 0.66; F = 15.38; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Young people have criteria for selecting a spouse. Pragma love, which is rational love, predicts the spouse selection process, and if content spouse selection is used, Eros love, which is hedonic, is the best predictor. Thus, all family therapists and counselors need to know about this criterion in each area they work.

Comparison of cognitive and emotional schema in women with and without marital satisfaction

Objectives: Various factors are effective in dissatisfaction and marital conflicts. Schemas play an important role in behavior and relationships. This study examined the role of cognitive and emotional schemes in women's marital satisfaction. Methods: This study was a cross sectional research and the population consists of all married women 20-55 years old in Tehran. 100 women were selected using stratified random sampling in categories of housewives and employed and place of living and completed questionnaires. The assessment tools included The Young's early maladaptive Schema Short Form (YSQ-SF), Leahy Emotional Schemas (LESS) and Enrich Marital Satisfaction questionnaire. Women with and without marital satisfaction were separated based on t score obtained from the ENRICH questionnaire. Results: Findings showed no significant differences in demographic data for women with and without marital satisfaction (P <0.05). Results of independent t test and Mann-Whitney showed that women with and without marital satisfaction are different in all schemas except schemas of sacrifice and unrelenting standards and schemas of control, blame, comprehensibility, acceptance of feelings, consensus, validation and higher values of emotional schemas (P <0.05).The regression analysis showed Abandonment schema and unrelenting standards schema and schema of guilt and validation of emotional schemas can predict marital satisfaction (P <0.05).And schemas guilt , blame, emotional deprivation and unrelenting standards simultaneously correlated with marital satisfaction (P <0.05). Conclusion: The formation and development of cognitive and emotional schemas during life can influence various aspects of married life. So that these schemas have an important role in evaluation of emotional partner and attitude toward them.

Cognitive and Emotional Processes and Life Satisfaction of Korean Adults With Childhood Abuse Experience According to the Level of Emotional Expressiveness

This study evaluates a hypothesized model describing the cognitive and emotional processes of childhood abuse and its influence on life satisfaction and explores the moderating effect of emotional expressivity in Korean young adults. The mediating roles of early maladaptive schema and state anxiety are explored, and the level of life satisfaction is compared according to the emotional expressivity level. A total of 550 young adults completed self-reported questionnaires, including Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-SF), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and Emotional Expressivity Scale (EES). The mediating roles of early maladaptive schema and state anxiety between childhood abuse and life satisfaction are confirmed. In the low emotional expressivity group, the double-mediation effect of early maladaptive schema and state anxiety is confirmed, whereas for the high emotional expressivity group, the mediating roles of each early maladaptive schema and state anxiety are confirmed, as well as the double-mediation effect. Moreover, the high emotional expressivity group showed higher life satisfaction. The study results imply that even though expressing emotions does not result in immediate mood elevation, but eventually leads to higher life satisfaction. The implications, limitations, and suggestions are discussed.

A preliminary study: designing and validating projective images of Young’s early maladaptive schema (EMS) domains

Background This study aims to design and validate ten projective images of Young’s Early Maladaptive Schema (EMS) domains. For this purpose, two questions are to be addressed. (1) How is the factorial structure of the projective images of EMS domains? (2) Do the images designed in the domains of disconnection and rejection, impaired autonomy and performance, impaired limits, other-directedness, and over-vigilance and inhibition have sufficient validity? Methods This is an applied mixed-methods exploratory study, in which the statistical population consisted of psychologists from Tehran Province in the qualitative section (n = 8) as well as other individuals aged between 18 and 65 years (mean age = 33) from Qazvin in the quantitative section (n = 102) in 2018. The research questions were analyzed through principal axis factoring with a varimax rotation, confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Cronbach’s alpha. Results According to the results, ten images and five domains of Young’s EMSs contribute to a simple structure. Accounting for 70.35% of the total variance of EMSs, the five dimensions include disconnection and rejection, impaired autonomy and performance, impaired limits, other-directedness, and over-vigilance and inhibition. Conclusions The results indicated that the designed projective images yielded acceptable construct validity.

A preliminary study of schema therapy for adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: A single-arm, uncontrolled trial

Objective: Schema therapy (ST) has recently been shown to be effective for the treatment of various mental disorders, including personality disorders. This pilot clinical trial aimed to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of ST for adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD)Results: From pre- to post-treatment, we found significant improvements in social functions (GAF and WHO-QOL), early maladaptive schema (YSQ), and depression and anxiety (BDI-II and STAI).Trial registration: UMIN000014535; registered on July 11, 2014.