Early Maladaptive Schemas in Bipolar Disorder Patients With and Without Suicide Attempts

Abstract

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) are at an increased risk of attempted and completed suicide. To elucidate the beliefs and assumptions associated with suicidality in BD, the present study compared BD patients with and without a history of suicide attempt in terms of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs). The sample consisted of 49 remitted BD patients who completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Version. Information on suicide attempts was obtained through interviews combined with medical records. Compared with BD patients without suicide attempts, the BD patients with suicide attempts scored significantly higher on 3 EMSs: social isolation, practical incompetence, and entitlement. The findings suggest that specific EMSs may be implicated in suicidal behaviors in BD. These results have implications for the assessment and treatment of suicidality in BD.

Early maladaptive schemas associated with dimensional and categorical psychopathology in patients with borderline personality disorder

“…The predictive role of disconnection/rejection on suicidal ideation was in accordance with other studies that focused on parasuicidal behaviours, either in BPD or non‐BPD samples (Castille et al, ; Dale, Power, Kane, Stewart, & Murray, ; Leppänen, Vuorenmaa, Lindeman, Tuulari, & Hakko, ; Nilsson, ). Taken together, these findings stress the need for addressing those cognitive schemas that are more closely related to the fear of abandonment and emotional emptiness, which are key issues for SFT, specifically among the subset of BPD patients with greater severity and/or chronicity of suicidal thoughts.…”

“…Despite this progress, it remains unclear whether EMSs are directly associated with relevant aspects of dimensional psychopathology in BPD, such as internalizing symptoms, psychotic-like symptoms, suicidal ideation, or aggressiveness, which could provide a more comprehensive framework on the overall influence of EMSs on people with BPD (Black, Blum, Pfohl, & Hale, 2004;Látalová & Prasko, 2010;Lee, Allen, Black, Zanarini, & Schulz, 2016). Studies addressing this issue are also warranted because previous research in non-BPD patients has linked specific schema domains with suicide attempts or aggressiveness, among other clinical outcomes (Nilsson, 2016;Shorey, Elmquist, Anderson, & Stuart, 2015).…”

Early maladaptive schemas and suicidal ideation in depressed patients

“…8---10 Depression-related EMSs are consistent with the cognitive model of depression, and place beliefs of failure, loss, and worthlessness at the core of depressive symptoms. 8 Even though studies on clinical populations indicate associations between EMSs and suicidality, 11,12 research focusing on suicidal ideation and EMSs has been sparse. Previously EMSs have been shown to correlate with suicidal ideation in a sample of chronically traumatised patients.…”

Which factors may differentiate lifetime suicide attempters from ideators in obsessive–compulsive disorder patients?

“…The presence of early abuse schemas may be significantly correlated with an increased risk for suicidality in patients with OCD, and maladaptive intrusive thoughts may cause learned inappropriate assumptions to cope with childhood traumatic experiences. [ 9 74 75 ] On the other hand, the patients with childhood trauma may report difficulties in emotion regulation, personal relationships, and self-concept. [ 76 ] It is also known that childhood traumatic events may be associated with neurobiological changes increasing the risk of developing psychiatric disorders in adulthood.…”