A next generation of the schema therapy model of personality pathology: A cross-cultural and international study protocol

BACKGROUND: Personality disorders are highly prevalent worldwide imposing substantial personal and social challenges. Schema Therapy is an effective psychotherapeutic approach for personality pathology and other complex characterological problems. New scientific insights prompted a re-evaluation of its theoretical underpinnings leading to a reformulated Schema Therapy theory. Furthermore, the assumed cross-cultural universality of the Schema Therapy model has not been tested. AIMS: This project has two primary aims: (1) To develop revised instruments based on the reformulated theory that are psychometrically sound and valid across diverse cultures and languages. (2) To validate the Schema Therapy-related constructs and their inter-relationships across cultures. METHODS: New draft versions of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Schema Coping Inventory, and Schema Mode Inventory were developed. Before dissemination, these instruments will undergo rigorous psychometric evaluation to refine item sets and ensure linguistic and conceptual consistency. A minimum of 100 adult mental health patients and 100 non-patients from each participating country will complete the revised instruments. Sociodemographic and mental health-related variables will also be assessed. Statistical analyses will evaluate (a) internal consistency, (b) unidimensionality, (c) cross-cultural invariance, (d) factorial validity (if possible), and (e) known-group validity. Malfunctioning items will be deleted, and subscales will be shortened, if possible, targeting internal consistency of ≥.80. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: This study is expected to yield optimized versions of the three instruments aligned with the reformulated theory. These findings will inform subsequent international studies to further assess the structural and cross-cultural validity of the revised scales. The resulting empirically validated scales will be openly accessible, facilitating worldwide utilization. DISCUSSION: This protocol outlines the first international study based on the reformulated theory, aiming to extend the psychopathological coverage and enhance the cross-cultural application of evidence-based treatments for personality pathology. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Potential limitations are discussed.

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PLoS ONE
Published
2026-06-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332723
Primary Topic
Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
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article
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article

A next generation of the schema therapy model of personality pathology: A cross-cultural and international study protocol

Viktória Simon, Ioannis Malogiannis, Ida-Marie T. P. Arendt, Naomi Maurilla Santoso et al.
PLoS ONE
Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
article

A next generation of the schema therapy model of personality pathology: A cross-cultural and international study protocol

Viktória Simon, Ioannis Malogiannis, Ida-Marie T. P. Arendt, Naomi Maurilla Santoso, Stine Bjerrum Møeller, Aled Ly Tang, Songhao Zhang, Sofiya Kanavina, Katia M’Baïlara, Jacob Meline, Theresia Indira Shanti, Huey Jing Renee Tan, Fritz Renner, Julija Gečaitė-Stončienė, Johannes Kopf‐Beck, Baozhen Lyu, Apoorva Shrivastava, Barbara Basile, Kristina Eggermont, Marta Panzeri, Tarun Kanti Gayen, Daniela Ho Tan, Jarosław M. Michałowski, Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mozumder, Ilona Krone, Eva Dierckx, Dorota Mącik, Yawen Zhu, Paulomi M. Sudhir, Jens C. Thimm, Sophie A. Rameckers, S. Karroumi, M. Manjula, Naïma Ezzahiri, Gregoris Simos, Laurentius Sandi Witarso, Lajos Simon, John Philip Louis, Robert Brockman, Veronica Lorentzen, Wydad Hikmat, Dylan Molenaar, Natia Badrishvili, Yuhan Liu, Li Li, Els Pauwels, Nadia Kadri, Freideriki Carmen Mamali, Lílian Queiroz Frossard, Eleni Giannoulis, Weronika Maria Browarczyk, Tavleen Kaur Kohli, Arnoud Arntz, Christopher W. Lee, Anna St. Lazarova, Lana Akopashvili, Adeleh Samimi, Zainaib Ennaciri, Hongxia Qin, Samy Egli, Yuliya Stabrouskaya, Ketevan Abdushelishvili, Agnese Orupe, Veerathayalani Heimkumar, Sarah M. Quaatz, Fouzia Chroukate, Irina S. Lazarova, Xin Hu, Xiaowei Guo, Zsolt Unoka, Aliaksandra Shabaikovich, Edward Chan, Bo Bach, Dmitry Dyakov, Atanaska Katrandjieva, Fabiola Rodrigues Matos, Krista Peneva, Amirov Gatam, Olkhouka Artsiom Andreevich, Géraldine Tapia, Archil Begiashvili, Fatima Zahra Chentaf, Cosima Leithne, Natallia Tkhoryk, Anisha Khanna, Ana Gvinianidze, Olivia Y. T. Ma, Renan Puléo Barela, Vladislav Lobanovich, Justina Pociunaite, Agnieszka E. Popiel, Hind Rachidi, Arpita Alok Misra, Veronika Romanovich, Hind Bouidar, Maryam Hedayati, Saade Malekasgar, Irma Khabazi, Marleen Rijkeboer, Soukaina Bouchebti
article en

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Personality disorders are highly prevalent worldwide imposing substantial personal and social challenges. Schema Therapy is an effective psychotherapeutic approach for personality pathology and other complex characterological problems. New scientific insights prompted a re-evaluation of its theoretical underpinnings leading to a reformulated Schema Therapy theory. Furthermore, the assumed cross-cultural universality of the Schema Therapy model has not been tested. AIMS: This project has two primary aims: (1) To develop revised instruments based on the reformulated theory that are psychometrically sound and valid across diverse cultures and languages. (2) To validate the Schema Therapy-related constructs and their inter-relationships across cultures. METHODS: New draft versions of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Schema Coping Inventory, and Schema Mode Inventory were developed. Before dissemination, these instruments will undergo rigorous psychometric evaluation to refine item sets and ensure linguistic and conceptual consistency. A minimum of 100 adult mental health patients and 100 non-patients from each participating country will complete the revised instruments. Sociodemographic and mental health-related variables will also be assessed. Statistical analyses will evaluate (a) internal consistency, (b) unidimensionality, (c) cross-cultural invariance, (d) factorial validity (if possible), and (e) known-group validity. Malfunctioning items will be deleted, and subscales will be shortened, if possible, targeting internal consistency of ≥.80. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: This study is expected to yield optimized versions of the three instruments aligned with the reformulated theory. These findings will inform subsequent international studies to further assess the structural and cross-cultural validity of the revised scales. The resulting empirically validated scales will be openly accessible, facilitating worldwide utilization. DISCUSSION: This protocol outlines the first international study based on the reformulated theory, aiming to extend the psychopathological coverage and enhance the cross-cultural application of evidence-based treatments for personality pathology. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Potential limitations are discussed.

PLoS ONEVol. 21(6)
Semmelweis University (HU), Tbilisi State University (GE), Ningbo University (CN), John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (PL), University of Technology Sydney (AU), University of Science and Culture (IR), Poznań University of Economics and Business (PL), University of Copenhagen (DK), The University of Sydney (AU), Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LT), Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie (AT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE), University of Padua (IT), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Brest State Technical University (BY), Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (ID), University of Freiburg (DE), The University of Western Australia (AU), University of Southern Denmark (DK), Ilia State University (GE), Anhui University of Science and Technology (CN), University of Macedonia (GR), University of Dhaka (BD), Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (BR), Caucasus University (GE), Belarussian State Pedagogical University Named After Maxim Tank (BY), Hospital Kuala Lumpur (MY), Region Zealand (DK), Central State Hospital (US), University Medical Center Freiburg (DE), Kajang Hospital (MY), Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (US), Medical University of Sofia (BG), LMU Klinikum (DE), Grigol Robakidze University (GE), International Islamic College (MY), Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (IR), Department of Space (IN), Maastricht University (NL), Uniwersytet SWPS (PL), Universität der Bundeswehr München (DE), Bharat Forge (India) (IN), Baranavichy State University (BY), Curatio International Foundation (GE), Counseling Center (US), University Hospital St. Ivan Rilski (BG), Universidade Regional de Blumenau (BR), Bordeaux Population Health (FR), NeuroDevelopment Center (US), Anhui Science and Technology University (CN), Education Department of Fujian Province (CN), Slagelse Hospital (DK), Region of Southern Denmark (DK), A.V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute (BY), Institute of Psychology (PL), Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MA), Irkutsk Regional Clinical Hospital (RU), Riga Stradiņš University (LV), Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems (IT), III-N Technology (United States) (US), IS practice (BE), RSPC MT (BY), Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia (MY), Eginition Hospital (GR), Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (DE), Sup de Co Marrakech (MA), MOROCCAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (MA), Miyoshi Kasei (Japan) (JP), Cardinal Tien Hospital (TW), Global Initiative on Psychiatry (GE), Parkinson Vereniging (NL), Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (BG), Akaki Tsereteli State University (GE), IMU University (MY), Northwest Normal University (CN), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IN), UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO), Tbilisi State Medical University (GE), Universidade São Francisco (BR), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), National University of Malaysia (MY), University of Amsterdam (NL), Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (CN), University of Latvia (LV), KU Leuven (BE)
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Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
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