Evaluation of Early Maladaptive Schemas and Adult Attachment Profiles in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Objective: This study aimed to compare the early maladaptive schemas and adult attachment profiles of patients with major depressive disorder with healthy controls and to determine their relationships with disease variables. Method: The study included 118 patients with major depressive disorder and 92 healthy volunteers, and the Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, Young Schema Scale Short Form-3, Inventory of Experiences in Close Relationships II and Beck Depression Inventory were administered. Results: The patient group had higher scores than the control group for all schema subtypes and attachment scores. Significant differences were found for some schemas between patients with chronic depression and patients with recurrent depressive episodes, between patients with a history of one hospitalization and patients with a history of multiple hospitalizations, and between patients with suicide attempts and patients with no suicidal ideation attempts. Significant positive correlations were found between the attachment scores, schema scores and depression severity of the patients and the control group. Conclusion: Further research is needed to determine the role of schemas and attachment styles in the development of depression in more detail and to focus on schema and attachment-based therapies in treatment.