The relationship between early maladaptive schemas and childhood traumas in patients with bipolar disorder

Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and childhood traumas (CTs) are associated with disorder onset and worsening prognosis in many psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD). This study aims to investigate the schemas in BD by comparing EMSs and CTs between patients with BD and healthy controls and the correlation between EMSs and CTs. 116 BD patients and 119 healthy controls were included in the study. The participants filled out the sociodemographic data form, childhood trauma questionnaire, and Young schema questionnaire - short form - 3rd version. Then, intergroup comparison and correlation analyses were performed. The BD group obtained statistically higher scores than the control group in all CT domains except physical abuse and in all schema domains except pessimism, emotional deprivation, self-sacrifice, defectiveness, and vulnerability to harm. The emotional abuse CT domain was found to be related to seven schema domains. Patients with BD experience more CTs and have more EMSs than the healthy population. Emotional abuse, in particular, is closely associated with EMSs. Both CT and EMSs are areas that need to be studied within treatment. Revealing schemas, which are critical psychological structures for the treatment of psychiatric disorders in BD, is a significant result of the study.