An investigation into the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and romantic dissolution grief in youth : a mixed method study

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate how early maladaptive schemas and emotion regulation difficulties influence the grief processes of young individuals who have experienced romantic relationship dissolution. In this research, a mixed method study was employed, and the quantitative and the qualitative study were conducted respectively. In the quantitative study, Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form Version 3, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Brief Form, and the revised version of Texas Inventory of Grief were used to collect data from 206 participants in late adolescence (between 18-22 years old)who experienced a romantic breakup for at least 1 month and at most 1 year. The results of the mediation analysis indicated that the emotion regulation difficulties significantly mediated the relationship between early maladaptive schemas (the domains of disconnectionrejection, impaired autonomy/other directedness, impaired limits/exaggerated standards) and romantic dissolution grief. In the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 participants (from different schema domains) in the quantitative study, and data was analyzed through the thematic analysis. Five superordinate themes were identified, which were adverse effects of the breakup, perceived losses, grief process following the breakup, coping strategies, and positive changes and personal growth. The results of the qualitative study displayed that there were some similarities between the general grief literature and the romantic dissolution grief.