An Examination of Early Maladaptive Schemas among Substance Use Treatment Seekers and their Parents

Abstract

Early maladaptive schemas, which are cognitive and behavioral patterns of viewing oneself and the world that result in substantial distress, are gradually being documented as important vulnerabilities for substance abuse. Unfortunately, there is limited research on early maladaptive schemas among substance abusers and their family members. Research on this topic may carry important implications for family-focused substance use interventions. The current study examined similarities and differences in early maladaptive schemas among a sample of substance abuse treatment seeking adults (n = 47) and at least one parent (n = 58). Results demonstrated that the substance abusers scored higher than their parents on 17 of 18 early maladaptive schemas, with most differences falling into the large effect size range. There were some similarities in the specific early maladaptive schemas endorsed by both groups despite substance abusers scoring higher on all schemas. Implications of these findings for future research and family-focused substance use treatment programs are discussed.

Like parent, like child? Exploring the association between early maladaptive schemas of adolescents involved with Child Protective Services and their parents

“…Our finding that children involved with CPS scored higher than their parents on most of the EMS, and parents did not endorse high levels of EMS (i.e., not in the clinical range), does not stand alone. Shorey et al () also reported that (adult) treatment‐seeking substance abusers scored significantly higher than their parents on 17 of the 18 EMS. They suggested that the relatively low schema scores of parents could be explained by the fact that parents possibly received psychotherapy for personal problems in the past or that certain schemas decrease with age (Shorey et al, ).…”

“…Shorey et al () also reported that (adult) treatment‐seeking substance abusers scored significantly higher than their parents on 17 of the 18 EMS. They suggested that the relatively low schema scores of parents could be explained by the fact that parents possibly received psychotherapy for personal problems in the past or that certain schemas decrease with age (Shorey et al, ). Although previously received psychotherapy might be a plausible explanation for low schema scores of parents in the Shorey et al sample, effectively engaging parents involved with youth care services is complex and demanding (Mirick, ; Schreiber, Fuller, & Paceley, )―let alone for (successful) psychotherapy.…”

“…Results demonstrated that the treatment seeking substance abusers scored significantly higher than their parents on 17 of the 18 EMS, with most differences falling into the large effect size range. Because parents did not endorse high levels of most EMS, the authors concluded that their findings provide preliminary evidence that EMS may not be continued intergenerationally (Shorey et al, ). However, Shorey et al stated that it may be possible that children develop different EMS in response to their parents' schemas.…”

Emotional Regulation in Adolescent Substance Use Disorders: Rethinking Risk

“…Schemas of substance abusers include maladaptive beliefs regarding insufficient self-control and pessimism, two cognitive patterns that have been identified in populations that struggle with emotional dysregulation (Shorey, Anderson, & Stuart, 2012;Siegel, 2012).…”

Early Maladaptive Schemas of Substance Abusers and Their Intimate Partners

“…In addition, employing a substance abuse treatment-seeking sample limits the generalizability to non-substance abusing samples. The sample of substance abusers were primarily male and it is possible that a larger sample of female substance abusers may have produced different findings, since previous research has demonstrated that early maladaptive schemas may be more relevant for female substance abusers (Shorey, Anderson, et al2012). Future research should compare early maladaptive schemas in samples of female substance abusers and their intimate partners to samples of male substance abusers and their intimate partners.…”