Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Schema is a cognitive and emotional pattern, which can affect individual behaviors. This study was performed to investigate mental health problems and personality characteristics in female students in Qom city.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 151 female students of Qom high schools in three disciplines of Mathematical Sciences, Humanities, and Experimental Sciences in 2011-2012 academic years. Sampling was performed in two steps; first cluster sampling and then stratified sampling with proportional allocation to each cluster. Participants answered a 75-question questionnaire, “Young Early Maladaptive Schemas”. Data were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis, spearman correlation coefficient, and Lambda statistics.

Results: The mean age of the students was 15±1.5 years. Unrelenting standards schemas (in domain of over vigilance/inhibition), failure and dependency (in dimension of impaired autonomy), and defectiveness and shame (in dimension of disconnection and rejection) had the highest mean scores, respectively. None of the mean scores had a significant difference according to three academic groups. But the correlation between the schemas was statistically significant in the academic groups (p<0.05).

Conclusion: In this study, 2 out of the 4 schemas with the highest mean belonged to impaired performance domain. Given that this schema is formed by parental behavior during childhood, therefore, one of the strategies can be training of parents to improve children’s confidence and not over caring of them.