The Relation between Quality of Life and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Married Students at Qazvin Payam Noor University
South Journals Publication (SJP)
(Online Publication)
http://www.southjournals.com
South Journal of Educational Psychology and Counseling
http://southjournals.com/ojs-2.4.5/index.php/sjepc
The Relation between Quality of Life and Early Maladaptive
Schemas in Married Students at Qazvin Payam Noor University
Elham Rahmanshahi*1, Ahmad Usefynezhad2
1
(B.s Student of Psychology, Qazvin Payam Noor University,Khomini, Qazvin, Iran)
2
(Ph.D. Student of Counseling, Counseling, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran)
*Corresponding author: Elham Rahmanshahi
Abstract: The present study was done to investigate the relationship between quality of
life and early maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor
University. This study is an applied one in terms of objective, a descriptive one in terms
of the method of collecting data, and of survey type. The statistical population consisted
of all married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University that among them 100 male
and female students were selected as the sample through random sampling method. To
collect data, the Quality of Life Questionnaire and Early Maladaptive Schema
Questionnaire were used. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and inferential
statistics (including correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis) were
used. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between
quality of life and early maladaptive schemas.
Keywords: quality of life, schemas, early maladaptive schemas
To cite this paper: Rahmanshahi, E., Usefynezhad, A. (2017). The Relation between Quality of
Life and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Married Students at Qazvin Payam Noor University . South
journal of Educational Psychology and Counseling, 4, 1, 46-52.
46
Introduction
Family is one of the fundamental pillars and the most important social unit.
Abnormalities of family and marital life are of risk factors of psychological traumas
in children and adults, and threaten the family system that indeed is the underlying of
healthy society. Therefore, identification of factors related with family and its
atmosphere is of great importance. The quality of marital life is a factor which is
considered very important in the family, and it means the individual's general
subjective assessment from marital relation and the rate of satisfying personal and
couple's needs, demands and dreams. Establishment of a satisfactory relation and
having marital satisfaction constitute the pillars of family strength. In general, marital
satisfaction is the prerequisite of a helpful, effective and satisfactory life, and includes
individuals' cognitive assessment of their life conditions. Satisfaction of marital life
quality is a process which is generated during the couples' life and loss or lack of
satisfaction of marital life quality is one of the most important causes of referring the
couples to family consultants and therapists (Fathi Ashtiani, Khodabakhsh and
Etemadi, 2004).
A healthy family requires couple's adjustment and satisfaction from each other. Welladjusted couples are those who have more agreement with each other, are satisfactory
from their type and level of their relations, and also are satisfied with the kind and
quality of spending their leisure time and plan about their time and financial problems
as well (Shaker et al, 2010). Kol and Spanir (1976) described the quality of marital
relation as the success and function of a marriage (Harper et al., 2000). Larson and
Holman (1994) stated that the quality of marital relation is a dynamic concept because
the nature and quality of relations among people change by passing of time which this
issue provides the possibility of the identification of factors affecting the quality of a
relation.
Satisfaction of the quality of marital life is one of the most important factors affecting
on the family function (Biren et al., 2004) so that it is an important and complex
aspect of a marital relation. In other words, one of the vital aspects of a marital system
is the satisfaction that couples feel and experience in their relations (Tengiuch,
Freeman, Taylor, and Malcarne, 2006). Satisfaction of marital life quality is a
condition in which the husband and wife feel happy and satisfactory from each other
most of the time (Sinha et al., 1990), and is considered as individuals' subjective
assessment from their marital relations (Derudvai, 1997). The study of the factors
affecting on satisfaction of the marital quality of life is considered as an important
issue because the individual's satisfaction of the marital life is an important part of
individual health (Berithwith et al., 2010).
The schemas are the cognitive factors that attention must be paid to them (De
Zeviesto et al., 2009), which are mainly formed in the childhood and on the basis of
the reality or experience and are stable during the life. These structures form the bases
of the individual's cognitive constructions and affect the individuals' behavioral
responses as mediators (Maltbay, 2004; Team, 2010). Schemas, by definition, are
subjective frameworks that can be considered as the structures of processing
information. Schemas determine the individual's feeling, behavior and thought and
his/her deep and firm beliefs about the self and the world (Ahmadi Borjali et al.,
2014).
47
Young, Kelasku and Vishar (2007) define the early maladaptive schemas as self
damage emotional and cognitive patterns that have been formed at early stage of
development and growth in the mind and have been repeated during the life. The early
maladaptive schemas always show themselves during a relation and affect the
activation of the relationship (Young and Brown, 1990) and can indirectly affect on
the quality of marital life (Yusefi et al., 2010). Schemas are structures that are formed
based on reality or experience and as mediators affect the individuals' behavioral
responses. In the psychotherapy structure, schema is considered as an organizing
factor that is essential to understand the person's life experience. Beck believes that
most interpersonal problems that people experience are affected by their way of
thinking that he calls them schemas (Beck, 2009). According to Young et al. (2005)
schemas are like road maps that individuals follow to achieve their lives and
relationships. They seem fairly constant and can sometimes be inflexible (Dattilio,
2010; Translated by Khajeh, Sajadian and Bahrami, 2012).
Ball and Sesru (2001) in a research studied the relationship between personality
disorder, early maladaptive schemas and psychological problems and showed that
there was a significant relationship between the intensity of personality disorder and
maladaptive schemas. Mokhtari et al. (2012) found that treatment schema decrease
maladaptive schemas and increase the quality of marital life.
Bidadian, Bahramizadeh and Poursharifi (2011) found that the aspects of the life
quality were negatively correlated with maladaptive schemas. Yousefi et al., (2011)
showed that mistrust/abuse, unrelenting standards and emotional inhibition could
predict divorce significantly. Zolfaghari et al., (2008) found that there was a
significant negative relationship between maladaptive schemas and the aspects of
marital intimacy.
So with regard to the issues raised and that the early maladaptive schemas are related
with marital life and family and affect the quality of marital life, the present study
seeks to answer the question that "whether the quality of life relates to early
maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University or not?
Methodology
The research method, based on data collection method, was descriptive and of
correlational type.
Statistical population, sampling method and sample size: The statistical population
of this study was the married university students. In the present study, the random
sampling method was used and thereby 100 male and female married students
among the students of Qazvin Payam Noor University participated in the study.
Data collection tools
Young's Schema Questionnaire
Young and Long (1998) Schema Questionnaire-Short Form was used to measure
early maladaptive schemas for exclusion and disconnection. Cronbach's alpha
coefficients for subscales of the non-clinical population were obtained 0.5-0.82. In
Iran, this questionnaire was translated and developed by Ahi, Mohammadifar and
Besharat (2007) and its internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha was reported to be
0.97 for females and 0.98 for males. To test early maladaptive schemas for exclusion
and disconnection area, the 25 items of the Young's early maladaptive schema
questionnaire was used. Cronbach's alpha for this study was obtained equal to 0.79.
Quality of Life Questionnaire
The efficiency of SF-36 questionnaire has been proven for applications such as
clinical practice, health policy evaluation as well as the general population studies.
48
The 36-item form of the questionnaire was developed by words by Varo Sherbon in
1992 in the United States, and its reliability and validity have been studied in different
patient groups. The validity and reliability of this questionnaire have been confirmed
in Iranian population (Montazeri et al., 2005; Asghari and Faghehi, 2003) and internal
consistency coefficients of its subscales were reported to be 0.70 to 0.85 and the
coefficients through test-retest with a week of interval were 0.43-0.79. Also, this
questionnaire can differentiate the healthy individuals from patients at all indicators
(Asghari and Faghehi, 2003). Concepts that are measured by this questionnaire are not
related to age, group, and a certain illness. The purpose of designing this
questionnaire has been the assessment of the health both physically and mentally,
which is performed by combining the scores of eight fields constituting the health.
The questionnaire consists of 36 items that evaluates eight different domains of
health: 1) General health, 2) physical functioning, 3) Role limitations due to physical
health, 4) Role limitations due to emotional problems, 5) Physical pain, 6) Social
functioning, 7) Energy/fatigue, and 8) Emotional well-being.
Data analysis method
After collecting the data, they were analyzed using descriptive and inferential
methods that in the descriptive statistics the mean and standard deviation were
obtained and in the inferential statistics the data were analyzed using multiple
regression method.
Results
In this study, the quality of life and its relation to the early maladaptive schemas has
been measured, and the descriptive results on the research variables are given in table
1.
Table 1. The descriptive results on the research variables
Statistical indicators
No. Mean Standard deviation
Minimum
100 5.63
0.99
4.00
Quality of life
100 47.10
20.19
4.00
Early maladaptive schema
Maximum
9.00
101.00
According to the data in the above table, for quality of life the mean and standard
deviation are 5.63 and 0.99, respectively; and for the early maladaptive schemas the
mean and standard deviation are 47.10 and 20.19, respectively.
Statistical analysis of research hypothesis
In this study, the hypothesis has been designed in accordance with the research
subject, which to test it various statistical tests such as Pearson correlation and
multiple linear regression analysis were used that are discussed in the following.
The hypothesis: There is a relationship between quality of life and the early
maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University.
To test this hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used that the data has been
presented in the table below.
Table 2. Pearson correlation test for the hypothesis
Statistical indicators Variables
Quality of life
Early maladaptive schema
1
**-0.31
3
-
According to Table 2, there is a significant negative relationship between quality of
life and early maladaptive schemas (P
(Online Publication)
http://www.southjournals.com
South Journal of Educational Psychology and Counseling
http://southjournals.com/ojs-2.4.5/index.php/sjepc
The Relation between Quality of Life and Early Maladaptive
Schemas in Married Students at Qazvin Payam Noor University
Elham Rahmanshahi*1, Ahmad Usefynezhad2
1
(B.s Student of Psychology, Qazvin Payam Noor University,Khomini, Qazvin, Iran)
2
(Ph.D. Student of Counseling, Counseling, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran)
*Corresponding author: Elham Rahmanshahi
Abstract: The present study was done to investigate the relationship between quality of
life and early maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor
University. This study is an applied one in terms of objective, a descriptive one in terms
of the method of collecting data, and of survey type. The statistical population consisted
of all married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University that among them 100 male
and female students were selected as the sample through random sampling method. To
collect data, the Quality of Life Questionnaire and Early Maladaptive Schema
Questionnaire were used. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and inferential
statistics (including correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis) were
used. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between
quality of life and early maladaptive schemas.
Keywords: quality of life, schemas, early maladaptive schemas
To cite this paper: Rahmanshahi, E., Usefynezhad, A. (2017). The Relation between Quality of
Life and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Married Students at Qazvin Payam Noor University . South
journal of Educational Psychology and Counseling, 4, 1, 46-52.
46
Introduction
Family is one of the fundamental pillars and the most important social unit.
Abnormalities of family and marital life are of risk factors of psychological traumas
in children and adults, and threaten the family system that indeed is the underlying of
healthy society. Therefore, identification of factors related with family and its
atmosphere is of great importance. The quality of marital life is a factor which is
considered very important in the family, and it means the individual's general
subjective assessment from marital relation and the rate of satisfying personal and
couple's needs, demands and dreams. Establishment of a satisfactory relation and
having marital satisfaction constitute the pillars of family strength. In general, marital
satisfaction is the prerequisite of a helpful, effective and satisfactory life, and includes
individuals' cognitive assessment of their life conditions. Satisfaction of marital life
quality is a process which is generated during the couples' life and loss or lack of
satisfaction of marital life quality is one of the most important causes of referring the
couples to family consultants and therapists (Fathi Ashtiani, Khodabakhsh and
Etemadi, 2004).
A healthy family requires couple's adjustment and satisfaction from each other. Welladjusted couples are those who have more agreement with each other, are satisfactory
from their type and level of their relations, and also are satisfied with the kind and
quality of spending their leisure time and plan about their time and financial problems
as well (Shaker et al, 2010). Kol and Spanir (1976) described the quality of marital
relation as the success and function of a marriage (Harper et al., 2000). Larson and
Holman (1994) stated that the quality of marital relation is a dynamic concept because
the nature and quality of relations among people change by passing of time which this
issue provides the possibility of the identification of factors affecting the quality of a
relation.
Satisfaction of the quality of marital life is one of the most important factors affecting
on the family function (Biren et al., 2004) so that it is an important and complex
aspect of a marital relation. In other words, one of the vital aspects of a marital system
is the satisfaction that couples feel and experience in their relations (Tengiuch,
Freeman, Taylor, and Malcarne, 2006). Satisfaction of marital life quality is a
condition in which the husband and wife feel happy and satisfactory from each other
most of the time (Sinha et al., 1990), and is considered as individuals' subjective
assessment from their marital relations (Derudvai, 1997). The study of the factors
affecting on satisfaction of the marital quality of life is considered as an important
issue because the individual's satisfaction of the marital life is an important part of
individual health (Berithwith et al., 2010).
The schemas are the cognitive factors that attention must be paid to them (De
Zeviesto et al., 2009), which are mainly formed in the childhood and on the basis of
the reality or experience and are stable during the life. These structures form the bases
of the individual's cognitive constructions and affect the individuals' behavioral
responses as mediators (Maltbay, 2004; Team, 2010). Schemas, by definition, are
subjective frameworks that can be considered as the structures of processing
information. Schemas determine the individual's feeling, behavior and thought and
his/her deep and firm beliefs about the self and the world (Ahmadi Borjali et al.,
2014).
47
Young, Kelasku and Vishar (2007) define the early maladaptive schemas as self
damage emotional and cognitive patterns that have been formed at early stage of
development and growth in the mind and have been repeated during the life. The early
maladaptive schemas always show themselves during a relation and affect the
activation of the relationship (Young and Brown, 1990) and can indirectly affect on
the quality of marital life (Yusefi et al., 2010). Schemas are structures that are formed
based on reality or experience and as mediators affect the individuals' behavioral
responses. In the psychotherapy structure, schema is considered as an organizing
factor that is essential to understand the person's life experience. Beck believes that
most interpersonal problems that people experience are affected by their way of
thinking that he calls them schemas (Beck, 2009). According to Young et al. (2005)
schemas are like road maps that individuals follow to achieve their lives and
relationships. They seem fairly constant and can sometimes be inflexible (Dattilio,
2010; Translated by Khajeh, Sajadian and Bahrami, 2012).
Ball and Sesru (2001) in a research studied the relationship between personality
disorder, early maladaptive schemas and psychological problems and showed that
there was a significant relationship between the intensity of personality disorder and
maladaptive schemas. Mokhtari et al. (2012) found that treatment schema decrease
maladaptive schemas and increase the quality of marital life.
Bidadian, Bahramizadeh and Poursharifi (2011) found that the aspects of the life
quality were negatively correlated with maladaptive schemas. Yousefi et al., (2011)
showed that mistrust/abuse, unrelenting standards and emotional inhibition could
predict divorce significantly. Zolfaghari et al., (2008) found that there was a
significant negative relationship between maladaptive schemas and the aspects of
marital intimacy.
So with regard to the issues raised and that the early maladaptive schemas are related
with marital life and family and affect the quality of marital life, the present study
seeks to answer the question that "whether the quality of life relates to early
maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University or not?
Methodology
The research method, based on data collection method, was descriptive and of
correlational type.
Statistical population, sampling method and sample size: The statistical population
of this study was the married university students. In the present study, the random
sampling method was used and thereby 100 male and female married students
among the students of Qazvin Payam Noor University participated in the study.
Data collection tools
Young's Schema Questionnaire
Young and Long (1998) Schema Questionnaire-Short Form was used to measure
early maladaptive schemas for exclusion and disconnection. Cronbach's alpha
coefficients for subscales of the non-clinical population were obtained 0.5-0.82. In
Iran, this questionnaire was translated and developed by Ahi, Mohammadifar and
Besharat (2007) and its internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha was reported to be
0.97 for females and 0.98 for males. To test early maladaptive schemas for exclusion
and disconnection area, the 25 items of the Young's early maladaptive schema
questionnaire was used. Cronbach's alpha for this study was obtained equal to 0.79.
Quality of Life Questionnaire
The efficiency of SF-36 questionnaire has been proven for applications such as
clinical practice, health policy evaluation as well as the general population studies.
48
The 36-item form of the questionnaire was developed by words by Varo Sherbon in
1992 in the United States, and its reliability and validity have been studied in different
patient groups. The validity and reliability of this questionnaire have been confirmed
in Iranian population (Montazeri et al., 2005; Asghari and Faghehi, 2003) and internal
consistency coefficients of its subscales were reported to be 0.70 to 0.85 and the
coefficients through test-retest with a week of interval were 0.43-0.79. Also, this
questionnaire can differentiate the healthy individuals from patients at all indicators
(Asghari and Faghehi, 2003). Concepts that are measured by this questionnaire are not
related to age, group, and a certain illness. The purpose of designing this
questionnaire has been the assessment of the health both physically and mentally,
which is performed by combining the scores of eight fields constituting the health.
The questionnaire consists of 36 items that evaluates eight different domains of
health: 1) General health, 2) physical functioning, 3) Role limitations due to physical
health, 4) Role limitations due to emotional problems, 5) Physical pain, 6) Social
functioning, 7) Energy/fatigue, and 8) Emotional well-being.
Data analysis method
After collecting the data, they were analyzed using descriptive and inferential
methods that in the descriptive statistics the mean and standard deviation were
obtained and in the inferential statistics the data were analyzed using multiple
regression method.
Results
In this study, the quality of life and its relation to the early maladaptive schemas has
been measured, and the descriptive results on the research variables are given in table
1.
Table 1. The descriptive results on the research variables
Statistical indicators
No. Mean Standard deviation
Minimum
100 5.63
0.99
4.00
Quality of life
100 47.10
20.19
4.00
Early maladaptive schema
Maximum
9.00
101.00
According to the data in the above table, for quality of life the mean and standard
deviation are 5.63 and 0.99, respectively; and for the early maladaptive schemas the
mean and standard deviation are 47.10 and 20.19, respectively.
Statistical analysis of research hypothesis
In this study, the hypothesis has been designed in accordance with the research
subject, which to test it various statistical tests such as Pearson correlation and
multiple linear regression analysis were used that are discussed in the following.
The hypothesis: There is a relationship between quality of life and the early
maladaptive schemas in married students at Qazvin Payam Noor University.
To test this hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used that the data has been
presented in the table below.
Table 2. Pearson correlation test for the hypothesis
Statistical indicators Variables
Quality of life
Early maladaptive schema
1
**-0.31
3
-
According to Table 2, there is a significant negative relationship between quality of
life and early maladaptive schemas (P