Identifying Early Maladaptive Schema of Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Cognitive models of depression propose that negative schemas and Early Maladaptive Schema contribute to depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study is to identify the early maladaptive Schema of patients with depression disorder. The method of study is descriptive. Research statistics involves all patients with depression disorder who have come to the counseling centers of Tehran and Hamadan. The method of sample choosing is stratified sampling.  This study was conducted among 120 patients with depression disorder.  Instruments in this study were included Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Short Form of Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ). The analysis of the results showed high correlation between early maladaptive schema and symptoms of depression disorder (P < 0.05).Regression analysis showed that early maladaptive schema of social isolation/alienation, enmeshment/undeveloped self andemotional inhibitionwere independent predictors of depression disorder.  The results of the present study indicate that identifying schema of depression in patients can help them understand the predisposing factors of their problem.