Specificity in the Relations among Childhood Adversity, Early Maladaptive Schemas, and Symptom Profiles in Adolescent Depression

The present cross-sectional study examined the relations of particular forms of childhood adversity (e.g., emotional maltreatment vs. physical abuse vs. sexual abuse) to specific early maladaptive schema themes (e.g., worthlessness/loss vs. danger) and symptom profiles (i.e., anhedonic vs. anxious). Seventy-six depressed adolescents retrospectively reported on their childhood experiences of emotional maltreatment, physical abuse, and sexual abuse in a contextual semi-structured interview. They were also administered the Young Schema Questionnaire to measure early maladaptive schemas, and the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire to measure anhedonic and anxious symptomatology. Consistent with specificity hypotheses, schemas with themes of loss/worthlessness preferentially mediated the relation between childhood adversity and anhedonic symptoms, while schemas with themes of danger preferentially mediated the relation between childhood adversity and anxious symptoms. Sexual abuse was not significantly associated with either depression or anxiety symptoms and, thus, mediation models involving sexual abuse were not tested. Implications for fine-grained models of etiology in depression are discussed.

Margaret N. LumleyEmail: