Maladaptive Schemas Among People Addicted to Alcohol: Heterogeneity but not Specificity?

Aims: Early maladaptive schemas described by Young theoretically underlie the development of psychopathology, including substance use. The key assumption is that the schemas do not act in isolation but create configurations that are, at least to a certain extent, distinctive for specific disorders. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine whether a schema profile specific to alcohol addiction can be identified when compared to profiles obtained from a non-clinical sample.

Short Summary: Early maladaptive schemas are cognitive and behavioral patterns related to a wide spectrum of psychopathology, including alcohol addiction. However, the assumption that the configuration of schemas varies across disorders still needs verification. In the sample of alcohol-addicted people, only heterogeneity was noted, without any specific profile that may differentiate them from healthy adults.

Methods: The study included two samples: 108 alcohol-dependent patients beginning stationary treatment and 1529 healthy adults. All participants completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3).

Results: Multiple-group latent profile analysis was used to compare clinical and non-clinical sample profiles. In both groups, four profiles were identified. These were similar in terms of schema means and variances across groups, differing only in size. Specifically, people addicted to alcohol were over-represented in the highest profile and under-represented in the lowest profile. Also, the only distinguishable difference between profiles was their height, not shape.

Conclusion: The findings indicate a heterogeneity but not specificity of maladaptive schema profiles within the studied sample of people addicted to alcohol.