Personality and early maladaptive schemas: A five-factor model perspective

According to Young’s schema model (Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Guilford Press), innate personality tendencies are important for the understanding of early maladaptive schemas (EMS). The current study examined the relations between EMS and the dimensions of the five-factor model of personality (FFM). One hundred and forty-seven adult outpatients completed the NEO PI-R, the Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (SQ-SF), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Correlational analyses showed a substantial overlap between EMS and the FFM, neuroticism in particular. EMS predicted depressive symptoms above and beyond the FFM personality dimensions. Implications of these findings are discussed.