The Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas Caused by Spousal Infidelity in the Occurrence of Acute Stress Disorder after Disclosure of Infidelity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Consulting, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor in Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor in Department of Counseling, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: The emotional and behavioral effects of disclosing infidelity on each of the couples involved are extremely destructive. This often leads to acute stress disorder, which is the primary and most significant response to such a situation. In this context, schemas, acting as a framework for information processing, can be effective in managing acute stress by bringing about profound changes in attitudes towards oneself, others, and the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of maladaptive schemas on acute stress disorder resulting from spousal infidelity.
Method: The research method used was descriptive-correlational. The study's statistical population comprised couples engaged in marital infidelity who sought assistance from courts and family counseling centers in Tehran and Saveh cities between 2020 and 2021. A sample of 172 individuals was selected using the purposeful sampling method. Data collection tools included the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (Cardena et al., 2000) and the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (1998). The data were analyzed using SPSS24 software, which employed descriptive indicators such as frequency, frequency percentage, mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Statistical tests including Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were also conducted.
Results: The study findings revealed a significant positive relationship (p<0.01) between acute stress reactions to a spouse's infidelity and early maladaptive schemas, including disconnection and rejection (r=0.40), impaired autonomy and performance (r=0.34), other-directedness (r=0.29), overvigilance and inhibition (r=0.44), and impaired limits (r=0.25). Various types of acute stress reactions, including dissociative symptoms, re-experiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal, and functional disorder, were found to have a significant positive relationship with early maladaptive schemas and their domains (p<0.05). The domains of early maladaptive schemas accounted for 33% of the total variance in acute stress disorder (p<0.01).
Discussion and conclusion: The research results indicate that maladaptive schemas formed as a result of spousal infidelity serve as the foundation for the development of acute stress disorder following the revelation of the infidelity.

Keywords

References

  1. Tilden T, Gude T, Hoffart A. The course of dyadic adjustment and depressive symptoms during and after couples therapy: a prospective follow‐up study of inpatient treatment. J Marital Fam Ther. 2010;36(1):43-58.
  2. Olson JR, Marshall JP, Goddard HW, Schramm DG. Shared religious beliefs, prayer, and forgiveness as predictors of marital satisfaction. Fam Relat. 2015;64(4):519-33.
  3. Jeanfreau MM, Jurich AP, Mong MD. An examination of potential attractions of women's marital infidelity. Am J Fam Ther. 2014;42(1):14-28.
  4. Allendorf K, Ghimire DJ. Determinants of marital quality in an arranged marriage society. Soc Sci Res. 2013;42(1):59-70.
  5. Johnson S. Your cheatin'heart: Myths and absurdities about extradyadic relationships. J Couple Relatsh Ther. 2005;4(2-3):161-72.
  6. Capuzzi D, Stauffer M, editors. Career counseling: Foundations, perspectives, and applications. Routledge; 2012.
  7. De Stefano J, Oala M. Extramarital affairs: Basic considerations and essential tasks in clinical work. Fam J. 2008;16(1):13-9.‏
  8. Vossler A. Dr Peter Stratton (Professor Emeritus, Leeds University), Dr Naomi Moller (Open University) &. The Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Handbook. 2014.
  9. Hertlein KM, Wetchler JL, Piercy FP. Infidelity: an overview. J Couple Relatsh Ther. 2005;4(2-3):5-16.
  10. Glass S. Not" just friends": rebuilding trust and recovering your sanity after infidelity. Simon and Schuster; 2007.
  11. Brown EM. Patterns of infidelity and their treatment. Routledge; 2013.
  12. Shackelford TK, Buss DM. Cues to infidelity. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 1997;23(10):1034-45.
  13. Platt RA, Nalbone DP, Casanova GM, Wetchler JL. Parental conflict and infidelity as predictors of adult children's attachment style and infidelity. Am J Fam Ther. 2008 Mar 29;36(2):149-61.
  14. Young K, DeBlasio FA. After the Affair: Healing the Pain and Rebuilding Trust When a Partner Has Been Unfaithful. By Janis Abrahms Spring with Michael Spring. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. 2015.
  15. Warach B, Josephs L. The aftershocks of infidelity: a review of infidelity-based attachment trauma. Sex Relatsh Ther. 2021;36(1):68-90.
  16. Rotter JC. Letting go: Forgiveness in counseling. Fam J. 2001;9(2):174-7.
  17. Rokach A, Philibert-Lignières G. Intimacy, loneliness & infidelity. Open Psychol J. 2015;8(1)71-7.
  18. Blow AJ, Hartnett K. Infidelity in committed relati0nships ii: A substantive review. J Marital Fam Ther. 2005;31(2):217-33.
  19. Jackman M. Understanding the cheating heart: What determines infidelity intentions? Sex Cult. 2015;19(1):72-84.
  20. Fatehizade M, Rahimi A, Yousefi Z. The Lived Experiences of Iranian Women, Injured from Their Husbands´ Infidelity. Mod Appl Sci. 2016;10(4):70-5.
  21. Echeburúa E. The challenge of posttraumatic stress disorder prevention: how to survive a disaster? Ter Psicol. 2010;28(2):147-54.
  22. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Ruiz P. Compêndio de Psiquiatria: Ciência do Comportamento e Psiquiatria Clínica. Artmed Editora; 2016.
  23. Wen X, Wang D, Li N, Qin X, Gu D. The construction of the structural equation model of burden, benefit finding, and anxiety-depression of esophageal cancer caregivers based on Lazarus stress and coping theory. Ann Palliat Med. 2021;10(7):7644-52.
  24. دهقانی‌بنادکی، روح‌ الله؛ روشن‌چسلی، رسول؛ عباسی، روح‌الله؛ فراهانی، حجت‌اله. پیش‌بینی تعهد زناشویی براساس طرح‌واره‌‏های ناسازگار اولیه (حیطه جدایی/ طرد): نقش واسطه‌ای تنظیم شناختی هیجان و اعتیاد به شبکه‌‏های اجتماعی مبتنی بر گوشی هوشمند. روا‌ن‌شناسی بالینی و شخصیت. 1401؛ 20(2): 33-48.
  25. خوشینی، فاطمه؛ اکبری، مهدی؛ محمدخانی، شهرام. رابطة ساختاری اختلال بدریخت‌انگاری بدن با طرح‌واره‌های ناسازگار اولیه و بی‌اعتبارسازی هیجانی ادراک شده: نقش میانجی فراشناخت، تصویر بدن و تحمل پریشانی. روا‌ن‌شناسی بالینی و شخصیت. 1400؛ 19(2): 101-119.
  26. Calvete E, Orue I, Hankin BL. A longitudinal test of the vulnerability-stress model with early maladaptive schemas for depressive and social anxiety symptoms in adolescents. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2015 Mar;37(1):85-99.
  27. Bach B, Bernstein DP. Schema therapy conceptualization of personality functioning and traits in ICD-11 and DSM-5. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2019;32(1):38-49.
  28. احمدی، سحر؛ ماردپور، علیرضا؛ محمودی، آرمین. اثربخشی طرح‌واره درمانی بر طرح‌واره‌های ناسازگار اولیه، افزایش کیفیت زندگی و رضایت زناشویی در زوجین متقاضی طلاق در شهر شیراز. روش‌ها و مدل‌های روان‌شناختی. 1399؛ 11(41): 53-70.
  29. Baugh LM, Cox DW, Young RA, Kealy D. Partner trust and childhood emotional maltreatment: The mediating and moderating roles of maladaptive schemas and psychological flexibility. J Context Behav Sci. 2019;12:66-73.
  30. Janovsky T, Rock AJ, Thorsteinsson EB, Clark GI, Murray CV. The relationship between early maladaptive schemas and interpersonal problems: A meta‐analytic review. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2020 May;27(3):408-47.
  31. Delattre V, Servant D, Rusinek S, Lorette C, Parquet PJ, Goudemand M, Hautekeete M. The early maladaptive schemas: a study in adult patients with anxiety disorders. L'encephale. 2004;30(3):255-8.
  32. Ali T, Dunmore E, Clark D, Ehlers A. The role of negative beliefs in posttraumatic stress disorder: A comparison of assault victims and non victims. Behav Cogn Psychother. 2002 Jul;30(3):249-57.
  33. Gray, M. J. Maguen, S. & Litz, B. T. (2007). Schema Constructs and Cognitive Models of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In L. P. Riso, P. L. du Toit, D. J. Stein, & J. E. Young (Eds.), Cognitive schemas and core beliefs in psychological problems: A scientist-practitioner guide (pp. 59–92). American Psychological Association.
  34. Simmons CA, Granvold DK. A cognitive model to explain gender differences in rate of PTSD diagnosis. Brief Treat Crisis Interv. 2005 Aug 1;5(3):290.
  35. Faustino B. Maladaptive and adaptive cognitions about the self and others: Confirmatory factor analysis of the brief core schemas scales. Psychol Rep. 2022.
  36. Nicol A, Mak AS, Murray K, Walker I, Buckmaster D. The relationships between early maladaptive schemas and youth mental health: A systematic review. Cognit Ther Res. 2020;44(4):715-51.
  37. Hovrud L, Simons R, Simons J. Cognitive schemas and eating disorder risk: The role of distress tolerance. Int J Cogn Ther. 2020;13(1):54-66.
  38. Boudoukha A H, Przygodzki-Lionet N, Hautekeete M. Traumatic events and early maladaptive schemas (EMS): Prison guard psychological vulnerability. European Review of Applied Psychology. 2016;66(4):181-7.‏
  39. Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS, Ullman JB. Using multivariate statistics. Boston, MA: pearson; 2007.
  40. Cardeña E, Koopman C, Classen C, Waelde LC, Spiegel D. Psychometric properties of the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ): A valid and reliable measure of acute stress. J Trauma Stress. 2000;13(4):719-34.
  41. Luo Y, He X, Wang S, Li J, Zhang Y. Media exposure predicts acute stress and probable acute stress disorder during the early COVID-19 outbreak in China. PeerJ. 2021;9:e11407.
  42. جهان‎بین، حامد؛ برجعلی، احمد؛ اسکندری، حسین. اثربخشی درمان روایتی‌- سازه‌گرایانه به شیوه «بازگشت به آینده» بر کاهش نشانه‌های اختلال فشار روانی حاد ناشی از وقوع تصادف منجر به اغماء در همسر. مطالعات روان‌شناسی بالینی. 1396؛ 7(27): 117-135.
  43. Ames DR, Rose P, Anderson CP. The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. J Res Pers. 2006;40(4):440-50.
  44. Schmidt NB, Joiner TE, Young JE, Telch MJ. The schema questionnaire: Investigation of psychometric properties and the hierarchical structure of a measure of maladaptive schemas. Cognit Ther Res. 1995;19(3):295-321.
  45. Ahi Gh, Mohammadifar MA, Besharat MA. Reliability and validity of Young's schema questionnaire-short form. J Psychol Educ. 2007;37(3):5-20.
  46. سهیلی‌صوفیانی، محمدرضا؛ پیرخائفی، علیرضا؛ محمدی، اکبر. ویژگی‌های روان‌سنجی پروفایل بهزیستی پرما: ابزاری چند مؤلفه‌ای برای سنجش شکوفایی مؤلفه‌ای برای سنجش شکوفایی. روا‌ن‌شناسی بالینی و شخصیت. 1401؛ 20(1): 151-164.
  47. Ehsan HB, Bahramizadeh H. Early maladaptive schemas and agreeableness in personality five factor model. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2011;30:547-51.
  48. Thimm JC. Personality and early maladaptive schemas: A five-factor model perspective. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2010;41(4):373-80.
  49. نادری، یزدان؛ مرادی، علیرضا؛ رحیمی موقر، وفا؛ رمضان‌زاده فاطمه. طرح‌واره‌های ناسازگار اولیه یک عامل خطر در افراد مبتلا به اختلال استرس پس از سانحه. تازه‌های علوم شناختی. ۱۳۹۴; ۱۷ (۳): 55-64.
  50. Úbeda Y, Fatjó J, Rostán C, Crailsheim D, Gomara A, Almunia J, Llorente M. A preliminary investigation on the evaluation of psychopathologies in a group of ex-pet and ex-performer chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): A rating approach based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). J Vet Behav. 2021;41:52-64.
  51. Dalgleish T, Mathews A, Wood J. Inhibition processes in cognition and emotion: a special case? In T. Dalgleish & M. J. Power (Eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 243–265). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1999.
  52. Ledoux T, Winterowd C, Richardson T, Clark JD. Relationship of negative self-schemas and attachment styles with appearance schemas. Body Image. 2010;7(3):213-7.
  53. Arntz A, Jacob G. Schema therapy in practice: An introductory guide to the schema mode approach. John Wiley & Sons; 2017.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics