Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Depressive Disorders

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the interrelationships of Young’s early maladaptive schemas with indicators of specific neural emotional systems conceptualized in Panksepp’s theory in a group of people suffering from depressive disorders. Materials and methods: The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) v. 2.4. and J. Young’s Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-S3-PL) were used. Ninety (90) individuals aged 18–58, including 45 people treated for depression (DD group), were qualified to participate in the experiment. Results: The subjects in the DD group scored statistically significantly lower than the subjects from the control group (CG group) on the three ANPS scale domains, namely SEEKING, PLAY, and ANGER. The subjects with depressive symptoms scored significantly higher in the YSQ-S3-PL questionnaire on two domains of early maladaptive schemas, i.e., “Impaired autonomy and performance” and “Other-directedness”. Regression analysis results indicate that impairment of the emotional SEEKING system explains most of the variability in the following typical domains of depression: “Disconnection and rejection”, “Impaired autonomy and performance”, and “Other-directedness”. For score variability in the domain area of “Impaired limits”, the ANGER system was found to be most significant, and the FEAR system proved the same for “Overvigilance and Inhibition”. Conclusions: 1. Two domains of early maladaptive schemas are significant for the onset of depressive symptoms, namely “Impaired autonomy and performance” and “Other-directedness”, linked to difficulties in engaging in behaviors to meet one’s own needs. 2. Impairment of the neural emotional SEEKING system most significantly explains the variability in depression-typical areas of early maladaptive schemas.