Anxiety Mood.  2019 Oct;15(2):68-76. 10.24986/anxmod.2019.15.2.68.

Characteristics of Early Maladaptive Schemas and Associated Cognitive Functions in Visitors to the Psychiatric Department in a University Hospital for Military Designation Process

• Chung YJ
• Lee SJ

• KMID: 2464991
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24986/anxmod.2019.15.2.68

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to investigate the characteristics of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), and associated neurocognitive functions as seen in visitors for military designation process.
METHODS
This retrospective study included 111 males aged 18 to 24 years among three groups: 41 visitors for military designation process (VMD), 21 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 49 healthy subjects. We collected the results of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, three neurocognitive tests as well as their clinicodemographic data. We analyzed the differences in EMSs between these three groups, and the correlations among the identified EMSs and neurocognitive performances within the VMD group.
RESULTS
Compared with both the OCD and healthy groups, the evaluation of the VMD group showed significantly higher scores in mistrust/abuse (F=6.4, p=0.002), vulnerability to harm (F=6.6, p<0.0001) and negativity/pessimism schema (F=7.3, p<0.0001), even when controlling for depression scores and levels of education. These three schemas also exhibited significant negative correlations with the score of Stroop test with r ranging from −0.34 to −0.44.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that people who are likely to have difficulties adjusting to living in a military life may have psychological vulnerabilities related to certain EMSs. Further studies are warranted to test the clinical potentials of these findings, such as a treatment target and a predictor factor.

Keyword

Early maladaptive schema; Conscript; Mental health; Personality; Cognition

MeSH Terms

Cognition*
Depression
Education
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Military Personnel*
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Retrospective Studies
Stroop Test