Relationship between early maladaptive schemas and meta-cognitive states in girls and boys studentes

Abstract

Cognitive theories believe that early maladaptive schemas are oldest cognitive components and even sometimes happen before child’s language learning, and most of the times, apply their effect on the information processing under consciousness threshold and have an automatic mode. The aim of this study was to identify the relation between meta-cognitive components and different kinds of maladaptive schemas in high school and guidance school students of Isfahan. The sample of this study consisted of third grade students of guidance school, and first and second grades of high school students of Isfahan. 100 students (50 girls and 50 boys) in the age range of 14-18 were randomly chosen and were asked to fill out the meta-cognitive questionnaire and Young questionnaire. The analysis of data showed that the total scores of maladaptive schemas had a negative and significant relation with the scores of meta-cognitive states (R= -0.22 and p<0.05). Multivariable regression analysis showed that among 16 available schemas, failure (R= -0.40, p<0.004), and emotional inhibition, (R= - 0.42, P< 0.002) in the boys, showed significant correlations with the total scores of meta-cognitive states. According to the findings, it seems that, the activation of failure schema in the girls, leads to the belief of being a failure and inevitability of failure, and the boys suffering from activation of emotional inhibition by which they extremely inhibit their emotion and action, in order to avoid the feelings of rejection and shame, are faced with deficits in meta-cognitive processing and have more cognitive and emotional distress during learning process.

Keywords

• early maladaptive schemas
• meta-cognitive states.