The Moderating Role of Emotional Literacy in the Relationship Between Early Maladaptive Schemas and Maladaptive Emotional Relationships in Adolescents: An Integrative Approach for Reforming the Social Studies Curriculum
Keywords:
Emotional literacy, early maladaptive schemas, maladaptive emotional relationships, adolescents, social studies curriculum, emotion regulationAbstract
Introduction and Aim: Maladaptive emotional relationships during adolescence may contribute to anxiety, emotional dependency, relational instability, and poor social adjustment, while early maladaptive schemas are considered among the most important cognitive-emotional factors underlying such relational dysfunctions. The present study aimed to investigate the moderating role of emotional literacy in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and maladaptive emotional relationships among adolescents within the framework of an integrative approach to social studies curriculum reform.
Methodology: This study employed a descriptive-correlational design using a moderation modeling approach. The statistical population consisted of secondary school adolescents in Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year, from whom 360 participants were selected through multistage cluster random sampling. Research instruments included the Young Schema Questionnaire–Short Form, the Emotional Literacy Scale, and the Maladaptive Emotional Relationships Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-27 and AMOS-26 through Pearson correlation coefficients, hierarchical regression analyses, and structural equation modeling.
Findings: The findings indicated that all domains of early maladaptive schemas were positively and significantly associated with maladaptive emotional relationships, whereas emotional literacy demonstrated a significant negative association with maladaptive emotional relationships. The disconnection and rejection schema domain emerged as the strongest predictor of maladaptive emotional relationships. Moderation analyses further revealed that emotional literacy significantly moderated the relationships between disconnection and rejection, impaired autonomy and performance, other-directedness, overvigilance and inhibition, and maladaptive emotional relationships. In addition, structural model fit indices were within acceptable ranges.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that early maladaptive schemas play a substantial role in the development of maladaptive emotional relationships among adolescents, while emotional literacy can reduce the negative effects of these schemas. Therefore, integrating emotional literacy education into social studies curricula may serve as a preventive and developmental strategy for improving adolescents’ psychological well-being and interpersonal relationship quality.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Mehdi Akbarzadeh Sagay , Sara Rastkar Ebrahimzade , Maryam Ashrafi, Hamed Ebadi Barbin (Author); Nasrin Mohaddes
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