Affective temperaments, self-schemas, and their interplay with emotional distress
Background: Affective temperaments and self-schemas are theorized to shape susceptibility to emotional distress, yet their interplay remains empirically unexplored. This study investigates (1) associations between affective temperaments and positive and negative self-schemas, and (2) whether positiv...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:325199 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/325199 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1732425 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Affective temperaments Anxiety symptoms Depressive symptoms Mediation analyses Self-schemas Temperament |
| Sumario: | Background: Affective temperaments and self-schemas are theorized to shape susceptibility to emotional distress, yet their interplay remains empirically unexplored. This study investigates (1) associations between affective temperaments and positive and negative self-schemas, and (2) whether positive and negative self-schemas mediate the temperament-distress relationship. Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 808 young adults (mean age = 20.8; 77.2% female) completed the TEMPS-A (affective temperaments), BCSS (self-schemas), and SCL-90-R (depressive/anxiety symptoms). Spearman correlations and parallel mediation analyses tested hypotheses. Results: Positive self-schemas showed a positive association with hyperthymic temperament and inverse association with cyclothymic and depressive temperaments. Negative self-schemas were associated with cyclothymic and depressive temperaments and inversely associated with hyperthymic temperament. Mediation analyses revealed that both positive and negative self-schemas significantly mediated the relationships between cyclothymic, depressive, hyperthymic, and anxious temperaments with depressive symptoms. Conversely, positive self-schemas only mediated the pathway from hyperthymic temperament to anxiety symptoms, whereas negative self-schemas mediated all temperament-anxiety pathways. Conclusion: This study provides the first empirical evidence that self-schemas act as mediating mechanisms linking affective temperaments to affective symptoms. Our findings thereby support a biopsychosocial model of emotional distress, founded on the interaction between genetically-influenced temperaments and socially-constructed self-schemas. Consequently, therapeutic interventions designed to modify self-schemas may represent an effective strategy for mitigating the pathway from temperamental vulnerability to emotional distress. |
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