Examining Social Anxiety Symptoms with Early Maladaptive Schemas: The Mediating Role of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion.

Abstract

This study aims to determine early maladaptive schema domains that significantly predict social anxiety symptoms in university students and to examine whether mindfulness and self-compassion play mediating roles in the correlation of these schema domains with social anxiety symptoms. 440 students from various departments of universities participated in the study. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Young Schema QuestionnaireShort Form 3, Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire, and Self-Compassion Scale were used to evaluate social anxiety, early maladaptive schema domains, mindfulness, and self-compassion, respectively. The hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that maladaptive schemas in the domains of disconnection, impaired autonomy, and unrelenting standards significantly predicted the increase in social anxiety symptoms. It was found that the level of mindfulness mediated the correlations between these three schema domains and social anxiety symptoms. Moreover, self-compassion mediated the correlations between the schema domains of impaired autonomy and unrelenting standards and social anxiety symptoms. Findings indicate the importance of both specific schema domains and the level of mindfulness and self-compassion in explaining social anxiety symptoms in university students. The results' possible causes and clinical implications were discussed in light of the current literature.