Dysfunctional Parenting and Psychological Symptomatology: An Examination of the Mediator Roles of Anger Representations in the Context of the Schema Therapy Model

In this study, we investigated the mediator roles of anger-related schema modes in the relationship between dysfunctional parent modes and psychological symptoms. We focused on specific schema modes (i.e., punitive and demanding parent modes; vulnerable, angry, and enraged child modes; and the angry protector mode). The study included 297 college students (159 women), with the average age of the sample being 19.66 years (SD = 1.53, range = 18 to 29 years). All participants completed self-report questionnaires on schema modes and psychological symptoms, as well as a demographic form. We evaluated two different mediational models to understand two different dysfunctional parenting styles. The results suggest that all variables significantly correlated with each other and almost all the direct paths in the models were significant. However, the mediator analysis revealed that some of the anger-related modes had very low but significant mediator roles in the models (i.e., the angry child mode for both models and the enraged child mode for the demanding parenting model). The vulnerable child mode played a central and key role in the relationship between dysfunctional parenting and psychological symptoms. The study suggests that anger representations might be windows to understand and intervene in unmet core emotional needs.