Emotional Deprivation

A brief introduction to schema therapy

Schema therapy is an integrative therapy initially developed for treating complex, longstanding, and diffuse psychological difficulties. It combines cognitive behavioral, attachment, gestalt, object relationships, constructivist, psychoanalytic, and neurobiological approaches within a unifying conceptual model (Young, 1990, 1999; Young et al., 2003). Additional interventions have since been outlined, such as EMDR (Young et al., 2002), mindfulness (van Vreeswijk et al., 2014), and body-focused methods (Briedis & Startup, 2020). Schema therapy expands on CBT by emphasizing the developmental origins of psychological problems, incorporating relational and experiential interventions, and targeting the maladaptive coping styles that perpetuate these difficulties (Young et al., 2003). 

Early maladaptive schemas 

Schemas are enduring and foundational mental structures that play an essential role in cognitive processing, enabling humans to represent the complexities of the world (Rafaeli et al., 2016). By simplifying reality, they make the vast array of information we encounter manageable, so that we can take quick and automatic action. Schemas also act as shortcuts that help us reach conclusions without unnecessary processing. However, while these shortcuts are efficient, they can produce distorted interpretations of reality. Research confirms that schemas can be adaptive or maladaptive, and positive or negative, depending on their output (Young et al., 2003). Adaptive schemas are associated with positive functions and adaptive behavioral dispositions (Louis et al., 2018).  

In schema therapy, EMS are defined as negative, pervasive themes or patterns regarding oneself and one’s relationship with others that are dysfunctional and self-defeating. Structurally, EMS are believed to consist of thoughts, memories, emotions, bodily sensations, and the meanings ascribed to them (Van Genderen et al., 2012). Importantly, behavior is not a component of schemas, but a response to their activation. In other words, EMS activation results in schema-driven actions (Young et al., 2003).  

Interactions between a child’s temperament, parenting, sociocultural context, and significant life experiences (e.g., traumatic events) can give rise to unmet emotional needs, which form the basis of EMS. EMS are usually accurate representations of these early environments and lead to responses that help the child survive and adapt to these contexts (Farrell et al., 2014; Young et al., 2003). EMS become dysfunctional when they are indiscriminately and repeatedly applied to later life experiences.  

EMS are elaborated and strengthened throughout their lifespan, becoming the ‘filters’ through which individuals understand and make predictions about themselves, others, and the world (Young & Klosko, 1994). Accordingly, EMS developed in early life are superimposed on current events (even when not applicable), leading to dysfunctional patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior (Young et al., 2003). 

[EMS] become dysfunctional because … they render all new situations, even ones that are profoundly different from the toxic early experiences, similarly toxic (even when in reality they are not), and … lead the person to maintain particular types of [toxic] environments or relationships, even when they can exert influence or choice and create other kinds of experiences.

 Rafaeli et al., 2011.

Schema development

Core emotional needs

Satisfying core emotional needs during childhood leads to the development of healthy schemas, while unmet needs give rise to EMS. Young and colleagues (2003) originally outlined 5 core emotional needs based on Bowlby’s (1977) attachment theory and clinical observation (Bach et al., 2018). While they are believed to be universal, the strength of these needs can vary across individuals and potentially across cultures (e.g., Hahn & Oishi, 2006). They are: 

• Secure attachments (e.g., safety, protection, acceptance, stability, and belonging).
• Autonomy, competence, and sense of identity.
• Freedom to express needs and emotions.
• Spontaneity and play.
• Realistic limits and self-control.

Given that core needs initially relate to the child’s primary attachments, difficulties within the nuclear family are often the principal source of EMS (Rafaeli et al., 2011). Young acknowledged that attachment needs were of primary importance for the developing child, laying the foundation for the satisfaction of other needs (Brockman et al., 2023). However, as children mature, needs arising other arenas such as school and the wider community become important (e.g., stable friendships, peer group acceptance, etc.). While unmet needs in these later contexts can lead to EMS, schemas emerging in adolescence are usually less pervasive than those developed during childhood (Young et al., 2003). EMS can also develop in later life (such as in response to deeply disturbing events), although this is much less common (Louis et al., 2018). 

Other core needs have also been proposed, such as fairness, self-coherence (Arntz et al., 2021), novelty, self-comprehension (Flanagan, 2010), self-esteem (Loose et al., 2020), meaning (Meier, 2019), and connectedness to nature (O’Sheedy, 2021). However, these core needs have not yet been fully incorporated into the schema therapy model. Core needs are described in more detail in the Psychology Tools Unmet Emotional Needs information handout.

Early experiences

Interactions between a child’s early environment and innate temperament can frustrate their core emotional needs, leading to EMS development. Young and colleagues (2003) identify 4 childhood experiences that contribute to EMS:

• Toxic withholding. The child is given too little of what they need (e.g., insufficient attention, affection, protection, etc.).
• Toxic excess. The child is given too much of what they need (e.g., they are over-indulged, overprotected, granted excessive freedoms, etc.).
• Traumatization. The child is harmed, victimized, or humiliated (e.g., parental abuse, bullying, discrimination, etc.). 
• Selective internalization. The child internalizes maladaptive attitudes that are modeled by a caregiver or family member  (e.g., perfectionism, pessimism, etc.).   

Emotional temperament

Temperament refers to enduring differences in children’s behavioral style and reactivity (Zentner & Bates, 2008). It can contribute to EMS formation by influencing parenting styles (Eisenberg et al., 1999; Kiff et al., 2011; Pekdoğan & Mehmet, 2022). For example:

• Irritable children tend to elicit punitive parenting, leading to increased anger.
• Fearful children tend to elicit protective parenting, leading to increased anxiety. 
• Impulsive children tend to elicit controlling parenting, increasing impulsivity. 

Moreover, children have a ‘differential susceptibility’ to their childhood environments and experiences (Belsky, 2013). For example, reactive children are more likely to flounder in response to poor parenting. This partly explains why some individuals develop EMS in the absence of severe trauma (Lockwood & Perris, 2012). 

Schema perpetuation

EMS are remarkably obstinate: they “fight for survival”. Young and colleagues (2003) suggest the durability of EMS partly stems the need for ‘cognitive consistency’: people strive to maintain a stable view of themselves and the world, even if it is inaccurate and distressing. Moreover, EMS are often central to an individual’s sense of self, making the idea of a schematic “paradigm shift” extremely threatening (Beck et al., 2004; Young & Klokso, 1994):

Although [the client’s] schematic structure may be unrewarding and lonely, change means that [they] are in new territory... They are being asked not just to change a single chain of behaviors, or reframe a simple perception, but rather to give up who they are and how they have defined themselves for many years, and across many contexts.

Beck et al., 2004.

Several other factors account for why EMS persist and are strengthened over time.

• Cognitive factors. EMS act as cognitive filters, distorting information and generating unhelpful thinking styles (Young et al., 2003). For example, schema-consistent information is exaggerated, while schema-inconsistent information is filtered out (i.e., magnification and minimization). Other cognitive distortions linked to EMS perpetuation include selective abstraction, overgeneralization, and labeling (Da Luz et al., 2017; Young, 1999). Research indicates schema activation not only generates negative automatic thoughts, but that these appraisals in turn reinforce EMS (Calvete et al., 2013).
• Affective factors. Individuals often block painful emotions linked to their EMS. Consequently, EMS do not reach conscious awareness which prevents their disconfirmation (Young et al., 2003). Affect can also make schema-congruent perceptions feel true. Finally, schema maintenance processes and their centrality to the individual’s sense of self can engender hopelessness about change (Young, 1999).  
• Behavioral factors. EMS lead to self-defeating behaviors, referred to as ‘coping responses’. For example, individuals might remain in toxic situations, provoke negative responses from others, or select partners that reinforce their EMS (Rafaeli et al., 2011).

Maladaptive coping styles

Coping styles refer to the characteristic ways individuals manage their EMS. Coping styles develop in childhood and operate outside of awareness, helping individuals adapt to their EMS, the intense affect accompanying them, and the environments in which they were formed (Rafaeli et al., 2011; Young et al., 2003). Much like EMS, factors that may influence the emergence of coping styles include temperament, modeling, conditioning, and culture (Loose et al., 2020; Nia & Sovani, 2014). While they are apparent in all individuals, coping styles tend to be more rigid, extreme, and ‘overlearned’ in clinical groups (Beck et al., 2004). Most importantly, coping styles play a central role in EMS perpetuation. 

Coping styles, in turn, give rise to idiographic ‘coping responses’ – the situation-specific manifestations of the client’s coping style. While coping styles are repetitious, coping responses are more variable and can take the form of behavioral, cognitive, or emotional reactions to EMS activation (Simeone-DiFrancesco et al., 2015).  

Young and colleagues (Young & Klosko, 1994; Young et al., 2003) identify three coping styles, recently reformulated by an international working group (Arntz et al., 2021). While most individuals use a mix of coping styles, some disorders are characterized by the predominance of one coping style (e.g., overcompensatory control in narcissistic personality disorder; Rafaeli et al., 2011):

• ‘Surrender’ (Young et al., 2003) or ‘Resignation’ (Arntz et al., 2021). Corresponding to the evolutionary ‘freeze’ or ‘fawn’ response, the individual responds to their EMS by accepting its core message and behaving as if it were true. Consequently, they experience the pain of the EMS directly.
• ‘Avoidance’ (Young et al., 2003) or ‘Escape’ (Young & Klosko, 1994). Corresponding to the evolutionary ‘flight’ response, the individual arranges their life such that their EMS is not triggered. The pain of their EMS is avoided or suppressed. Avoidant coping may be overt (e.g., escaping from schema activating situations or individuals) or covert (e.g., using substances or dissociation to dull schema-related distress). 
• ‘Overcompensation’ (Young et al., 2003) or ‘Inversion’ (Arntz et al., 2021). Corresponding to the ‘fight’ response, the individual responds to schema activation by attacking, overcorrecting, or externalizing their EMS (Greenwald & Young, 1998). The pain of the EMS is masked with other thoughts, emotions, and actions (e.g., the individual replaces feelings of inferiority with superiority). 

Three additional coping styles (indolence, mockery, and gaucherie) have also been proposed (Askari, 2021).

Young (1990) originally described 15 EMS, which were later increased to 18 schemas (Young et al., 2003). Additional schemas have since been proposed (e.g., Arntz et al., 2021; Brockman et al., 2023; Yalcin et al., 2023). The 18 EMS described by Young and colleagues (2003) were subsequently clustered into ‘schema domains’ which correspond to specific unmet emotional needs. Believed to be one of the most common EMS (Young et al., 2003), emotional deprivation is categorized in ‘disconnection and rejection’ domain. EMS in this domain are characterized by difficulties forming secure attachments and the belief that one’s basic emotional needs (e.g., love, nurturance, safety, and acceptance) will not be met consistently (Young, 2014).  

Emotional Deprivation

Individuals with emotional deprivation anticipate that other people will not provide the normal level of support, understanding, and guidance they want and need. As a result, individuals with this EMS feel uncared for, disappointed with their relationships, and long for emotional connection. Young and Klosko (1994) describe the experience as one of absence and emotional isolation:

[It is] the sense that you are going to be lonely forever, that certain things are never going to be fulfilled for you, that you will never be heard, never be understood… It is a feeling of aloneness, of nobody there. It is a sad and heavy sense of knowledge that you are destined to be alone.

Young & Klosko, 1994

For others, emotional deprivation manifests as a chronic sense of emptiness:

It’s… a generic feeling of discomfort, a lack of being filled up that may come and go. Some people experience it physically, as an empty space in their belly or chest. Others experience it more as an emotional numbness. You may have a general sense that you’re missing something that everybody else has, or that you’re on the outside looking in. Something just isn’t right, but it’s hard to name. It makes you feel somehow set apart, disconnected, as if you’re not enjoying life as you should.

Webb, 2013. 

Individuals with this EMS experience different forms of emotional deprivation (Young et al., 2003). They include:

• Deprivation of nurturance. The client feels they do not receive enough love, affection, warmth, or attention from others.
• Deprivation of empathy. The client feels there is no-one who understands, listens, validates, or shares feelings with them.  
• Deprivation of protection. The client feels they given insufficient support, guidance, or direction by others. 

Emotional deprivation is often most apparent in close relationships. Expecting that other people cannot or will not be emotionally supportive, individuals with this EMS fail to communicate their emotional needs or behave as if they do not exist. When emotional support is not forthcoming, they feel neglected, unimportant, or misunderstood. This can lead to vicious cycle that confirms the reality of their deprivation. 

For other individuals, emotional deprivation may provoke feelings of entitlement: they believe that other people should meet their emotional needs and become angry and demanding when they do not (a response sometimes observed in narcissistic individuals). Alternatively, they might avoid intimate relationships entirely or maintain only superficial connections because they expect their emotional needs will go unmet (Young et al., 2003). 

Unfortunately, emotional deprivation is often complicated by a lack of awareness. Some individuals have experienced deprivation from a pre-verbal age, resulting in an unarticulated, felt sense of emotional isolation (Young & Klosko, 1994). Other individuals are unaware of their emotional needs because they have gone unmet for so long or because of implicit messages that emotionally depriving experiences are normal (Cutland Green & Balfour, 2020). Often, these depriving experiences are simply ‘invisible’ to the individual:

Pure emotional neglect is invisible. It can be extremely subtle, and it rarely has any physical or visible signs. In fact, many emotionally neglected children have received excellent physical care… [Emotional neglect] hides. It dwells in the sins of omission, rather than commission; it’s the white space in the family picture rather than the picture itself. It’s often what was NOT said or observed or remembered from childhood, rather than what WAS said.

Webb, 2013. 

Other individuals with this EMS tend to negate their emotional needs, viewing them as ‘weak’, ‘bad’, or ‘unimportant’, or deny that they even exist. In a small percentage of cases, individuals present with psychosomatic symptoms that elicit care and attention (although they are usually unaware of the function of this; Young et al., 2003). Consequently, many individuals with emotional deprivation enter treatment complaining of vague symptoms, general unhappiness, or diffuse relationship difficulties, and so need help identifying the relevance of this EMS (Young et al., 2003).    

Studies also suggest that emotional deprivation is prevalent amongst neurodivergent individuals (Oshima et al., 2015; Philipsen et al., 2017). However, this finding could be attributed to psychiatric comorbidities seen in the people studied. While the reasons for this association are unclear, it might relate to developmental challenges that neurodiverse individuals are at risk of experiencing, such as attachment-related difficulties (Storebø et al., 2016; Teague et al., 2017), problems with parent-child attunement, synchrony, and sensitivity (Crowell et al., 2019), unhelpful parenting styles (Molina & Musich, 2016), and parental stress (Yorke et al., 2018). Further research in this area is needed.  

As with all EMS, emotional deprivation has multiple structural components. Individuals with this schema are prone to several cognitive distortions or ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ (Lorzangeneh & Issazadegan, 2022; Young & Klosko, 1994; Young et al., 2003). They might include:

• All or nothing thinking (e.g., “Either people are there for me or they don’t care about me at all”).
• Catastrophizing (e.g., “I’ve been single for a while now – I’ll never be special or important to anyone”). 
• Discounting the positives (e.g., “My husband is loving, but he doesn’t give me enough attention – he doesn’t understand me at all”). 
• Emotional reasoning (e.g., “I have close friends, but I still feel all alone”).
• Fortune-telling (e.g., “I’ll never find someone who truly loves or cares about me”). 
• Labeling (e.g., “I’m a bad person for having emotional needs”).
• Magical thinking (e.g., “Other people should know what my emotional needs are without saying it”). 
• Mental filter (e.g., “My wife gave me a thoughtless birthday present – I must not be important to her”). 
• Mind-reading (e.g., “He thinks I’m weak for wanting affection”). 
• Overgeneralization (e.g., “My family weren’t supportive of me, so I can’t trust anyone to help me when I need it”).  
• Personalization (e.g., “My friend didn’t call – she must not care about me”).
• “Should” statements (e.g., “I shouldn’t be feeling this way – I have no reason to”). 

Emotions associated with emotional deprivation seeking include:

• Loneliness and emptiness associated with emotional disconnection, isolation, and/or inattention. 
• Sadness and disappointment associated with insufficient love, understanding, or support. 
• Anger, bitterness, or unexpressed resentment associated with feeling neglected.  
• Desperation and neediness associated with intense unmet emotional needs. 

As a result, people with emotional deprivation may experience difficulties when it comes to:

• Recognizing, validating, expressing, and prioritizing their emotional needs. 
• Selecting friends and partners who can meet their emotional needs. 
• Neglecting or overlooking other people’s emotional needs (i.e., overcompensation).
• Accepting limits on people’s ability to meet their emotional needs.
• Emotional regulation (e.g., validating emotional reactions, self-soothing). 
• Tolerating feelings of neglect or deprivation. 
• Being intimate and vulnerable with others. 

Clinical observation suggests that emotional deprivation often co-occurs with other schemas (Young & Klosko, 1994; Young et al., 2003). EMS that are sometimes associated with emotional deprivation include:

• Abandonment. Perceived or actual abandonment leaves the client feeling emotionally neglected and deprived. These schemas often share an origin in unavailable and/or inconsistent caregivers. 
• Approval-Seeking. The client hopes that recognition will secure more care and attention and help them feel less alone. 
• Defectiveness. The client attributes a lack of connection, affection, and understanding to their inherent shortcomings. 
• Enmeshment. Emotional deprivation and enmeshment both arise due to a lack of attunement and the parent’s failure to recognize the child’s emotional needs. 
• Entitlement. The client demands that other people meet their emotional needs. 
• Failure to achieve. The client’s parents were unattuned, disinterested in their interests and achievements, or did not create a physically or emotionally safe environment that supported achievement. Alternatively, the client might manage the pain of emotional deprivation by engaging in activities that compromise their success (e.g., substance use).
• Insufficient self-control. The client manages the pain of emotional deprivation through impulsive acts (e.g., self-harm).
• Mistrust/Abuse. Experiences of abuse and betrayal leave the client with the belief that others will not recognize or meet their emotional needs. 
• Pessimism. The client complains in an attempt to elicit care, sympathy and attention from others.
• Punitiveness. The temperamentally irritable child may respond to a lack of parental responsiveness by being punitive and controlling, “insisting that his or her expectations are met in a highly specific manner” (Hewitt et al., 2017, p.123).
• Self-sacrifice. As a child, the client sacrificed themselves to gain love, affection, or connection to others. Alternatively, they may have been overlooked due to another family member needing additional care; if they were co-opted into providing care and valued for this, self-sacrifice and emotional deprivation are likely to co-occur. Either way, the client is unlikely to be aware of their emotional needs as an adult or actively blocks them in the service of self-sacrifice. 
• Vulnerability to harm. Childhood environments that are emotionally unsafe or unsupportive leave the client feeling both vulnerable and deprived.  

Emotional deprivation is associated with a range of difficulties, including addictions (Shorey et al., 2011), anger (Askari, 2019), avoidant personality disorder (Kunst et al., 2020), borderline personality disorder (Barazandeh et al., 2016), burnout (Bamber & McMahon, 2008; Simpson et al., 2019), childhood trauma (Pilkington et al., 2021a), chronic pain (Voderholzer et al., 2014), depression (Nicol et al., 2020; Thimm & Chang, 2022), eating disorders (Maher et al., 2022), OCD (Kizilagac & Cerit, 2019), paranoid personality disorder (Nordahl et al., 2005), psychosis (Thimm & Chang, 2022), PTSD (Harding et al., 2012), relationship problems (Janovsky et al., 2020), self-harm (Pilkington et al., 2021b), social anxiety (Pinto-Gouveia et al., 2006), and suicidal ideation (Pilkington et al., 2021b).

Development origins

Emotional deprivation is associated with unmet emotional needs relating to affection, intimacy and empathic connection, protection, emotional support, and guidance (Bach et al., 2018; Farrell & Shaw, 2018; Lockwood & Perris, 2012). Formative experiences that play a role in the development of this EMS may include:

• Parents who were emotional detached, unaffectionate, cold, or inattentive.
• Parents who struggled with connection, empathy, and understanding.  
• Limited support, guidance, and direction from significant others.
• Being indulged in superficial ways (e.g., with material gifts) rather receiving genuine love, acceptance, and support.

Research confirms that specific developmental experiences are associated with emotional deprivation, including emotional and physical neglect (Pilkington et al., 2021a), emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse (May et al., 2022; Nicol et al., 2020; Pilkington et al., 2021a). Parenting styles that are emotionally depriving, emotionally inhibited, punitive, controlling, and belittling have also been associated with this EMS (Bach et al., 2018; Sheffield et al., 2005).

"Many people struggle with emotional deprivation, and it sounds like it might be relevant to you too. Would you be willing to explore this schema more with me?"

Clinicians might begin by providing psychoeducation about emotional deprivation and EMS more generally:

• Schemas are negative themes and patterns that start in your childhood and continue throughout your life. Some are very common.
• Schemas usually get stronger as time passes, becoming the negative filters people use to understand and predict the world. You could think of them as dark sunglasses – they color and distort our experiences in unhelpful ways.
• Schemas operate ‘behind the scenes’: we’re not usually aware of them or when they are active. However, with practice, you can become more aware of them. It is a bit like a theatre – you can learn to bring your backstage schemas to the main stage.
• One common schema is ‘emotional deprivation’. If you have this schema, you often feel that other people don’t give you the care, attention, or understanding you need. This might leave you feeling empty, lonely, or continually disappointed by your relationships. Some people experience this schema in a vague way, sensing that something important is missing from the relationships.
• Signs that you have an emotional deprivation schema include feeling unsupported and misunderstood by the important people in your life. You might find it difficult to tell other people what you need or become very demanding if they neglect you. Alternatively, you might avoid intimate relationships with people because you think you’ll be disappointed by them.
• People develop schemas because some of their emotional needs were not growing up. As children, schemas help us make sense of early experiences and to get by. If you have an emotional deprivation schema, your parents might have been unaffectionate, unsupportive, or unprotective of you. Some people with this schema remember being given gifts or excessive amounts of praise for superficial things, rather than genuine love, care, or attention. Either way, you might remember feeling lonely and uncared for as a child.
• People manage their schemas in different ways. You might cope with emotional deprivation by keeping your emotional needs to yourself, not getting close to people, or fighting to get your needs met by being very pushy or clingy.

Standard treatment techniques for working with emotional deprivation are listed below. They include:

• Self-monitoring (e.g., schema diaries).
• Cognitive interventions (e.g., historical review, decentring, flashcards).
• Emotion-focused interventions (e.g., imagery rescripting, chairwork, letter-writing).
• Relational interventions (e.g., limited reparenting, empathic confrontation).
• Behavioral interventions (e.g., experimentation, behavioral pattern-breaking).

In light of the unmet needs associated with emotional deprivation, individuals with this EMS also require a specific ‘need-meeting’ style of interaction from the outset of therapy (Cutland Green & Balfour, 2020). This includes emotional nurturance (i.e., warmth, affection, empathy, responsiveness, validation, and safety), consistent support and guidance, and encouragement in the face of challenges (Lockwood & Samson, 2020).

• Alba, J., Calvete, E., Wante, L., Van Beveren, M. L., & Braet, C. (2018). Early maladaptive schemas as moderators of the association between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 42, 24-35. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-017-9874-5.
• Arntz, A., Rijkeboer, M., Chan, E., Fassbinder, E., Karaosmanoglu, A., Lee, C. W., & Panzeri, M. (2021). Towards a reformulated theory underlying schema therapy: Position paper of an international workgroup. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 45, 1007-1020. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-021-10209-5.
• Askari, A. (2021). New concepts of schema therapy: The six coping styles. Amir Askari.
• Askari, I. (2019). Early maladaptive schemas and cognitive-behavioral aspect of anger: Schema model perspective. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 37, 262-283. DOI: 10.1007/s10942-018-0311-9.
• Bamber, M., & McMahon, R. (2008). Danger—Early maladaptive schemas at work!: The role of early maladaptive schemas in career choice and the development of occupational stress in health workers. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 15, 96-112. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.564.
• Barazandeh, H., Kissane, D. W., Saeedi, N., & Gordon, M. (2016). A systematic review of the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and borderline personality disorder/traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 130-139. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.01.021.
• Briedis, J., & Startup, H. (2020). Somatic perspective in schema therapy: The role of the body in the awareness and transformation of modes and schemas. In G. Heath and H. Startup (Eds.), Creative methods in schema therapy: Advances and innovations in practice. Routledge, 60-75.
• Brockman, R. N., Simpson, S., Hayes, C., Wijingaart, R. V. D., & Smout, M. (2023). Cambridge guide to schema therapy. Cambridge University Press.
• Crowell, J. A., Keluskar, J., & Gorecki, A. (2019). Parenting behavior and the development of children with autism spectrum disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 90, 21-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2018.11.007.
• Cutland Green, T., & Balfour, A. (2020). Assessment and formulation in schema therapy. In G. Heath & H. Startup (Eds.), Creative methods in schema therapy: Advances and innovation in clinical practice. Routledge, 19-47.
• Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., & Reiser, M. (1999). Parental reactions to children’s negative emotions: Longitudinal relations to quality of children’s social functioning. Child Development, 70, 513-534. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00037.
• Farrell, J. M., Reiss, N., & Shaw, I. (2014). The schema therapy clinician’s guide: A complete resource for building and developing individual, group and integrated schema mode treatment programs. John Wiley and Sons.
• Farrell, J. M., & Shaw, I. (2018). Experiencing schema therapy from the inside out: A self-practice/self-reflection workbook for therapists. Guilford Press.
• Flanagan, C. (2010). The case for needs in psychotherapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 20, 1–36. DOI: 10.1037/a0018815.
• Hahn, J., & Oishi, S. (2006). Psychological needs and emotional well-being in older and younger Koreans and Americans. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 689-698. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.09.001.
• Harding, H. G., Burns, E. E., & Jackson, J. L. (2012). Identification of child sexual abuse survivor subgroups based on early maladaptive schemas: Implications for understanding differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36, 560-575. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-011-9385-8.
• Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., & Mikail, S. F. (2017). Perfectionism: A relational approach to conceptualization, assessment, and treatment. Guilford Press.
• Janovsky, T., Rock, A. J., Thorsteinsson, E. B., Clark, G. I., & Murray, C. V. (2020). The relationship between early maladaptive schemas and interpersonal problems: A meta‐analytic review. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 27, 408-447. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.2439.
• Kizilagac, F., & Cerit, C. (2019). Assessment of early maladaptive schemas in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dusunen Adam: Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 32, 14-22. DOI: 10.14744/DAJPNS.2019.00003.
• Kunst, H., Lobbestael, J., Candel, I., & Batink, T. (2020). Early maladaptive schemas and their relation to personality disorders: A correlational examination in a clinical population. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 27, 837-846. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.2467.
• Kudryavtsev, V. T. (2011). The phenomenon of child creativity. International Journal of Early Years Education, 19, 45-53. DOI: 10.1080/09669760.2011.570999.
• Loose, C., Graaf, P., Zarbock, G., & Holt, R. A. (2020). Schema therapy for children and adolescents (ST-CA): A practitioner’s guide. Pavilion.
• Maher, A., Cason, L., Huckstepp, T., Stallman, H., Kannis‐Dymand, L., Millear, P., Mason, J., Wood, A., & Allen, A. (2022). Early maladaptive schemas in eating disorders: A systematic review. European Eating Disorders Review, 30, 3-22. DOI: 10.1002/erv.2866.
• May, T., Younan, R., & Pilkington, P. D. (2022). Adolescent maladaptive schemas and childhood abuse and neglect: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 29, 1159-1171. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.2712.
• Molina, M. F., & Musich, F. M. (2016). Perception of parenting style by children with ADHD and its relation with inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity and externalizing symptoms. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1656-1671. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-015-0316-2.
• Nia, M. K., & Sovani, A. (2014). Cross cultural comparison role of early maladaptive schemas and coping styles between women with depressive symptoms in Iran and India. Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences, 4, 57-65.
• Nicol, A., Mak, A. S., Murray, K., Walker, I., & Buckmaster, D. (2020). The relationships between early maladaptive schemas and youth mental health: A systematic review. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44, 715-751. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-020-10092-6.
• Noor, R., & Dildar, S. (2021). Childhood traumatic experiences, early maladaptive schemas and personality dysfunctions in shelter home residents. Pakistan Journal of Applied Psychology, 1, 10-23.
• Nordahl, H. M., Holthe, H., & Haugum, J. A. (2005). Early maladaptive schemas in patients with or without personality disorders: Does schema modification predict symptomatic relief? Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 12, 142-149. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.430.
• O’Sheedy, B. (2021). Is connectedness to nature a core human need? Schema Therapy Bulletin, 23, 10-14.
• Oshima, F., Iwasa, K., Nishinaka, H., & Shimizu, E. (2015). Early maladaptive schemas and autism spectrum disorder in adults. Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, 15, 191-205. DOI: 
• Pekdoğan, S., & Kanak, M. (2022). Child temperament as a predictor of parents’ potential for emotional abuse. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 210, 330-334. DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001449.
• Philipsen, A., Lam, A. P., Breit, S., Lücke, C., Müller, H. H., & Matthies, S. (2017). Early maladaptive schemas in adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 9, 101-111. DOI: 10.1007/s12402-016-0211-8.
• Pilkington, P. D., Bishop, A., & Younan, R. (2021a). Adverse childhood experiences and early maladaptive schemas in adulthood: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 28, 569-584. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.2533.
• Pilkington, P., Younan, R., & Bishop, A. (2021b). Early maladaptive schemas, suicidal ideation, and self-harm: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 3, 100051. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadr.2020.100051.
• Pinto-Gouveia, J., Castilho, P., Galhardo, A., & Cunha, M. (2006). Early maladaptive schemas and social phobia. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 571-584. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-006-9027-8.
• Rafaeli, E., Berstein, D. P., & Young, J. E. (2011). Schema therapy: Distinctive features. Routledge.
• Rafaeli, E., Maurer, O., Lazarus, G., & Thoma, N. C. (2016). The self in schema therapy. In M. Kyrios, R. Moulding, G. Doron, S. S. Bhar, M. Nedeljkovic, & M. Mikulincer (Eds.), The self in understanding and treating psychological disorders. Cambridge University Press, 59-70.
• Sheffield, A., Waller, G., Emanuelli, F., Murray, J., & Meyer, C. (2005). Links between parenting and core beliefs: Preliminary psychometric validation of the Young Parenting Inventory. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 787-802. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-005-4291-6.
• Shorey, R. C., Anderson, S., & Stuart, G. L. (2011). Early maladaptive schemas in substance use patients and their intimate partners: A preliminary investigation. Addictive Disorders and their Treatment, 10, 169-179. DOI: 10.1097/ADT.0b013e318214cd11.
• Simeone-DiFrancesco, C., Roediger, E., Stevens, B. A. (2015). Schema therapy with couples: A practitioner’s guide to healing. John Wiley and Sons.
• Storebø, O. J., Rasmussen, P. D., & Simonsen, E. (2016). Association between insecure attachment and ADHD: Environmental mediating factors. Journal of Attention Disorders, 20, 187-196. DOI: 10.1177/1087054713501079.
• Sundag, J., Zens, C., Ascone, L., Thome, S., & Lincoln, T. M. (2018). Are schemas passed on? A study on the association between early maladaptive schemas in parents and their offspring and the putative translating mechanisms. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 46, 738-753. DOI: 10.1017/S1352465818000073.
• Teague, S. J., Gray, K. M., Tonge, B. J., & Newman, L. K. (2017). Attachment in children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 35, 35-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2016.12.002.
• Thimm, J. C., & Chang, M. (2022). Early maladaptive schemas and mental disorders in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1-43. DOI: 10.1007/s41811-022-00149-7.
• Van Genderen, H., Rijkeboer, M., & Arntz, A. (2012). Theoretical model: Schemas, coping styles, and modes. In M. van Vreeswijk, J. Broersen, & M. Nadort (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of schema therapy: Theory, research, and practice. John Wiley and Sons, 27-40.
• Van Vreeswijk, M., Broersen, J., & Schurink, G. (2014). Mindfulness and schema therapy: A practical guide. John Wiley and Sons. 
• Voderholzer, U., Schwartz, C., Thiel, N., Kuelz, A. K., Hartmann, A., Scheidt, C. E., Schlegl, S., & Zeeck, A. (2014). A comparison of schemas, schema modes and childhood traumas in obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic pain disorder, and eating disorders. Psychopathology, 47, 24-31. DOI: 10.1159/000348484.
• Webb, J. (2013). Running on empty: Overcome your childhood emotional neglect. Morgan James Publishing.
• Wells, A., & Hackmann, A. (1993). Imagery and core beliefs in health anxiety: Content and origins. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 21, 265-273. DOI: 10.1017/S1352465800010511.
• Yalcin, O., Marais, I., Lee, C. W., & Correia, H. (2023). The YSQ-R: Predictive Validity and Comparison to the Short and Long Form Young Schema Questionnaire. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 1-14. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20031778.
• Yorke, I., White, P., Weston, A., Rafla, M., Charman, T., & Simonoff, E. (2018). The association between emotional and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder and psychological distress in their parents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48, 3393-3415. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3605-y.
• Young, J. E. (1990). Cognitive therapy for personality disorders: A schema-focused approach. Practitioner’s Resource Exchange.
• Young, J. E. (1999). Cognitive therapy for personality disorders: A schema-focused approach (3rd ed.). Professional Resource Press.
• Young, J. E. (2014). Early maladaptive schemas. Schema Therapy Institute, New York.
• Young, J. E., & Klosko, J. S. (1994). Reinventing your life: The breakthrough program to end negative behavior and feel great again. Plume.
• Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. Guilford Press.
• Young, J. E., Zangwill, W. M., & Behary, W. E. (2002). Combining EMDR and schema-focused therapy: The whole may be greater than the sum of the parts. In F. Shapiro (Ed.), EMDR as an integrative psychotherapy approach: Experts of diverse orientations explore the paradigm prism. American Psychological Association (181–208.
• Zentner, M., & Bates, J. E. (2008). Child temperament: An integrative review of concepts, research programs, and measures. European Journal of Developmental Science, 2, 7-37.