Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 17;28(1):13.
doi: 10.1007/s40519-023-01549-0.

Factor structure of the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire in an eating disorder sample

Tyrone J Huckstepp  1   2 , Andrew Allen  3   4 , Anthea L Maher  2 , Catherine Houlihan  5 , Jonathan Mason  6
Affiliations

Factor structure of the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire in an eating disorder sample

Tyrone J Huckstepp et al. Eat Weight Disord. .

Abstract

Purpose: The Young Positive Schema Questionnaire (YPSQ) measures early adaptive schemas (EAS) which could be used to develop positive psychology and schema-based interventions to benefit the treatment of eating disorders (EDs).

Methods: The present study investigated the factor structure of the YPSQ in a sample of 826 participants (18-73 years; n = 753 women) with ED symptomatology (e.g., restricting, binging, and purging). The sample was randomly split into two groups for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Full sample analysis using Pearson correlations was conducted to explore convergent validity of the new YSPQ factor structure with ED symptomatology, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility.

Results: A nine-factor model was found, demonstrating good fit indices and internal consistency (α = 0.77-0.92). The YPSQ showed an inverse relationship to ED symptomatology and emotional suppression, and a positive relationship with cognitive flexibility and emotion reappraisal.

Conclusion: Further research is needed to explore the clinical benefits of the YPSQ to identify EAS deficits in individuals with EDs to improve treatment outcomes.

Level of evidence: Level V, descriptive study.

Keywords: Eating disorders; Factor structure; Psychometric; Schema.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

References

    1. Abbate-Daga G, Amianto F, Delsedime N, De-Bacco C, Fassino S. Resistance to treatment and change in anorexia nervosa: a clinical overview. BMC Psychiatry. 2013;13(1):1–18. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-13-294. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aloi M, Rania M, Caroleo M, Carbone EA, Fazia G, Calabrò G, Segura-Garcia C. How are early maladaptive schemas and DSM-5 personality traits associated with the severity of binge eating? J Clin Psychol. 2019;76(3):539–548. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22900. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arbuckle JL. Amos (Version 26.0) [Computer Program] Chicago: IBM SPSS; 2019.
    1. Arcelus J, Mitchell AJ, Wales J, Nielsen S. Mortality rates in patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders: a meta-analysis of 36 studies. Arch General Psychiatry. 2011;68(7):724–731. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.74. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baranoff J, Oei TP, Cho SH, Kwon SM. Factor structure and internal consistency of the Young Schema Questionnaire (Short Form) in Korean and Australian samples. J Affect Disord. 2006;93(1–3):133–140. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2006.03.003. - DOI - PubMed