Antecedants and consequences of marital satisfaction: Depression, anxiety and early maladaptive schemas

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between marital satisfaction and early maladaptive schemas, symptoms of depression and anxiety and to observe the mediating role of perceived social support between marital satisfaction and depression and/or anxiety. Method: A sample group of 106 female and 44 male participants were surveyed by utilizing a demographic information form, Marital Life Scale, Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-S2), Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results: The analysis of the survey shows that mistrust and enmeshment/codependency schema anticipate marital satisfaction levels. All early maladaptive sub-schema have been observed to show a statistical positive significant correlation with depression and anxiety. The depression levels of participants with lower marital satisfaction are explained by their emotional deprivation schema levels whereas their anxiety levels are explained by their unrelenting standards/ hypercriticalness schema levels. Further investigation of the interrelation of perceived social support with the variables shows that there is an inverse singnificant correlation between marital satisfaction and perceived social support. Depression and perceived social support are shown to have a direct significant correlation whereas there is no statistical significant correlation between perceived social support and anxiety. The final analysis of the role of perceived social support between marital satisfaction and depression levels show that as marital satisfaction increases depression levels decrease however as perceived social support increases depression leves of the participants increase as well; perceived social support is shown to play a mediating role between marital satisfaction and depression. Conclusion: The study concludes that early maladaptive schemas predict marital satisfaction. The depression and anxiety levels of the participants are explained by early maladaptive schemas. The interrelation of perceived social support with marital satisfaction and depression shows that perceived social support plays a mediating role between marital satisfaction and depression.