Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire (YPSQ) in the General Population and Psychiatric Patients

Early Adaptive Schemas (EAS) are resilience-oriented counterparts to Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS), which are central in Schema Therapy. The Young Positive Schema Questionnaire (YPSQ) was developed as a measure of 14 EAS. The YPSQ was not yet evaluated in relation to a clinical population and has not been validated in German. Objectives of the present study were therefore the psychometric validation of a German YPSQ in a community sample and the comparison of EAS to psychiatric patients. Participants were 1,418 individuals from a community sample and 182 psychiatric patients with a main diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. Factorial validity of the 14 EAS was satisfactory in the community sample, and internal consistency was present in both samples. EAS exhibited divergent validity to EMS, childhood trauma, and psychopathology. Convergent validity was evident with resilience, self-efficacy, and satisfaction with life. Support for incremental validity beyond EMS was shown for resilience, self-efficacy, satisfaction with life, and several dimensions of psychopathology. Individuals in the community sample exhibited more pronounced EAS compared to psychiatric patients with the exception of Empathic Consideration. Limitations of the YPSQ are discussed, especially concerning the distinctiveness of several EAS from each other and related EMS.