Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Leahy Emotional Schema Scale-II

Objective: The emotional schema theory (EST) reflects two styles of coping with emotions, i.e. normalizing, or pathological. These emotional schemas may be evaluated by the Leahy Emotional Schemas Scale (LESS). To ease the application of the LESS, a shortened version of it was introduced in 2012. Nevertheless, the psychometric properties of this new version has not been published so far. This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the LESS-II in a sample consisting of clinically depressed outpatients and healthy controls. Methods: A total of 457 participants were recruited for this study. Only patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or participants with no axis I disorder were eligible to take part in the study. The participants completed the LESS, the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30, the Beliefs About Emotions Scale and the interviewer used the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale to determine the severity of the depression. Results: This study has shown that the LESS-II has good internal consistency, is a reliable and valid tool to assess emotional schemas in a clinically depressed patient population, has strong and significant correlations with the LESS, and to a great extent, is able to differentiate between clinically depressed patients and healthy controls. Discussion: The LESS-II has been shown to be a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of emotional schemas in a Turkish clinical population, and the findings provide further support for the evidence base of the clinical application of the EST.