According to schema theory people have categorical rules or templates that they use to interpret the world and guide their behavior. A. T. Beck et al. (1990) and Young (1994) defined maladaptive or dysfunctional schemas as enduring, unconditional, negative beliefs about oneself, others, and the environment which organize one’s experiences and subsequent behaviors. Because the early maladaptive schemas have been shown to predict psychosocial functioning and psychopathology it is reasonable to suspect that they might also impact substance abuse and substance dependence.

Examining the 3 addict subgroups in terms of EMS factors and comparison of addict patients with control group.

To determine whether there are particular schemas that may be underlying the addictive behavior.

Participants were 34 opiate dependent, 18 methamphetamine addicts, 30 subjects with heroin dependence and 48 healthy subjects as control group. Addict group had completed at least 6 months of treatment, all were in early full remission. Participants were given the Young Schema Questionnaire-Long Form in order to identify EMSs.

The results suggest that there are significant differences between the addict and control groups on 8 of the 18 schemas. There was not found any significant difference between opioid and methamphetamine groups regarding mean scores of EMSs or schema domains.

People with schema domains of impaired performance and impaired limits may be more likely to engage in substance dependence and these findings may have implications for drug abuse prevention programs.