Predicting Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems in Children Based on Family Communication Processes and Mothers’ Early Maladaptive Schemas
Volume 7, Issue 4, Winter 2026, Pages 21-33
https://doi.org/10.22034/jwir.2025.2068044.1023
Mojgan Bagheri, GHodrat Baghery, Seyed Feyzollah Afrazi-Zadeh, Seyed Masoud Derakhshanian
Abstract This study aimed to predict internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in children based on empathy, family communication processes, and mothers’ early maladaptive schemas. The research design was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of all elementary school children in Yasuj city during the 2022-2023 academic year, along with their mothers. A sample of 361 individuals was selected through multistage cluster random sampling. Data were collected using the Fitzpatrick and Ritchie (1994) Family Communication Patterns Questionnaire, Young’s Schema Questionnaire (YSQ), and Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The participants’ scores were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis via SPSS-24 software. The results of the Pearson correlation showed a significant positive correlation between the conformity subscale and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, and a significant negative correlation between the conversation subscale and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was found between the components of early maladaptive schemas (including disconnection/rejection, impaired autonomy/performance, impaired limits, other-directedness, and over-vigilance/inhibition) and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. The findings indicated that the conformity subscale and the components of early maladaptive schemas could positively predict internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in children. These findings can be applied in the etiology of behavioral problems and the development of preventive strategies.