THE SCHEMA QUESTIONNAIRE - INVESTIGATION OF PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES AND THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF A MEASURE OF MALADAPTIVE SCHEMAS

Although schemas play a central role in cognitive conceptualizations of personality disorders, research devoted to the assessment of schemas has been scarce. This article describes the preliminary validation of a measure of schemas relevant to personality disorders. The Schema Questionnaire (SQ) was developed using independent samples (N = 1,564). In study 1, factor analyses using a student sample revealed 13 primary schemas. A hierarchical factor analysis revealed three higher-order factors. In study 2, factor analyses using a patient sample revealed 15 primacy schemas. The patient and student samples produced similar sets of primary factors which also closely matched the rationally developed schemas and their hypothesized hierarchical relationships (Young, 1991). The primary subscales were found to possess adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency. In study 3, the SQ was found to possess convergent and discriminant validity with respect to measures of psychological distress, self-esteem, cognitive vulnerability for depression, and personality disorder symptoms.