Investigation of the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and self-esteem and social anxiety in young adults

In this study, the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and social anxiety and self-esteem levels in young adults was examined. It is thought that the experiences of individuals from early childhood may lead to the development of dysfunctional schema structures over time. In this study, it was investigated how these schemas affect individuals' social anxiety levels and self-esteem, and whether they differ in terms of gender and family structure variables. Within the scope of the study, a sample group consisting of a total of 355 individuals, 182 females (52.8%) and 163 males (47.2%), between the ages of 18-30. Demographic Information Form, Young Schema Scale Short Form (YŞÖ-KF3), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and Self-Esteem Assessment Short Form (BSDÖ-KF) were applied to the participants. SPSS Statistics for Windows 25.0 (trial version) was used for data analysis. The findings showed that there were significant and positive relationships between disconnection, impaired autonomy, other-orientation and high standards schema domains and social anxiety (including anxiety and avoidance sub-dimensions). However, multiple regression analyses revealed that only impaired autonomy and impaired boundaries schema domains had significant effects on social anxiety. According to these findings, it can be said that as the scores of individuals on impaired autonomy schema increase, their social anxiety levels also increase; and as the scores on impaired boundaries schema increase, their social anxiety levels decrease. The effect of impaired autonomy on social anxiety is more pronounced compared to other schemas. On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between impaired boundaries and early maladaptive schemas and social anxiety. Disconnection and impaired autonomy schema domains were found to be negatively related to positive self-esteem and positively related to negative self-esteem. Interestingly, damaged boundaries schema was found to predict positive self-esteem positively and negative self-esteem negatively. The orientation to others schema domain was also found to be a variable that increases positive self-esteem and decreases negative self-esteem. Although there was a correlation between high standards schema and self-esteem, no significant effect of this schema on positive or negative self-esteem was found in multiple regression analyses. In the analyses conducted according to the gender variable, it was observed that female participants had significantly higher scores in the sub-dimensions of social anxiety, anxiety and avoidance compared to males (p<0.05). In addition, in the evaluations made according to family structure, significant differences were found in the disconnection, damaged autonomy, high standards schema areas; in the avoidance sub-dimension and in the positive and negative aspects of self-esteem (p<0.05).