Examination of early maladaptive schemas in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder

Aim: This study aims to examine the relationship between early maladaptive schemas, depressive symptoms, and symptom severity by comparing patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) who applied to the Psychiatry Clinic with a healthy control group. Materials and Methods: The study included 73 individuals diagnosed with MDD who applied to the Psychiatry Clinic of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Hospital, Health Practice and Research Center, and 73 healthy controls. Participants were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5, a sociodemographic data form, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3 (YSQ-SF3). Results: In individuals diagnosed with MDD, all subdimensions of early maladaptive schema scores were found to be significantly higher. In the MDD group, when examining the relationship between BDI and YSQ scores, there was a low positive correlation with the economic fears score; a moderate positive correlation with dependency, subjugation, abandonment, emotional deprivation, emotional inhibition, insufficient self-control, mistrust, self-sacrifice, and punitiveness scores; and a high positive correlation with failure, social isolation, defectiveness, and pessimism+vulnerability to harm scores. Among these, only the pessimism+vulnerability to harm subscale scores were found to significantly explain BDI scores. Additionally, failure schema scores were found to increase the risk of MDD diagnosis by 1.171 times. In individuals with MDD, the risk of recurrent suicidal thoughts increased by 1.220 times with abandonment scores and by 1.192 times with emotional inhibition scores. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the importance of an individual's life history and early maladaptive schemas in the diagnosis of MDD. More comprehensive studies are needed to illuminate the role of early maladaptive schemas in depression and suicidal behavior. Keywords: Depression, Schema, Young Schema Questionnaire Short Form, Severity of Depressive Symptoms, Suicide