The role of parental maladaptive schemas and family alliance on child well-being

The present thesis aimed to examine the link between parental early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and child's well-being via the mediator role of family alliance. One hundred and thirty-one families composed of mother-father-child triads were recruited as participants; each parent filled out the Young's Schema Questionnaire- Short Form, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; 1½ - 5), and the demographic information form. They also participated in a four-stage play task through which family alliance was coded according to Lausanne Trilogue Play protocol. It was hypothesized that maternal and paternal Disconnection and Impaired Limits schema domains would predict child's internalizing and externalizing problems via the mediator role of family alliance. A set of mediation analyses were run, and none showed significant complete mediations. Nevertheless, analyses revealed that all the direct effects of parental EMSs on child well-being were significant. In particular, both parents' Disconnection and Impaired Limits schema domains significantly predicted children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Exploratory regression analyses showed that other than these two EMSs, parental Impaired Autonomy was also a significant predictor of child well-being. Fathers' Impaired Autonomy significantly predicted externalizing and mothers' Impaired Autonomy significantly predicted internalizing problems. Findings were discussed within the scope of early maladaptive schemas and child well-being literature.