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Positive Perceptions of Parenting and their Links to Theorized Core Emotional Needs

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Abstract

Central to the theory underpinning schema therapy is a hierarchically structured model where maladaptive and adaptive schemas are manifestations of higher order core emotional needs which emerge through specific parenting conditions. Despite widespread use in therapy, the hierarchical model of adaptive schemas has not been tested nor has it been linked to recollections of positive parenting patterns. In Study 1, both single and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis on Eastern (Singapore, n = 628; Kuala Lumpur, n = 229) and Western (United States, n = 214) samples tested the hierarchical structure of positive schemas and provided further evidence of four types of core emotional needs. They ran in parallel with the previously established four negative counterparts of unmet core emotional needs derived from other studies of second order maladaptive schemas. Since schemas theoretically develop during childhood, Study 2 explored links between positive recollections of parenting with the model of core emotional needs obtained from Study 1. Using samples with separate ratings for fathers and mothers from Manila (Philippines; n = 520, 538), Jakarta (Indonesia; n = 366, 383) and the United States (n = 204, 214), and utilizing structural equation modeling, statistically significant positive relationships were found between these higher order solutions of recollections of positive parenting patterns and the theorized four core emotional needs which were believed to be represented by these higher order adaptive schemas. This supported a core assumption of schema therapy.

Highlights

  • The four-factor model of higher order positive schemas was the most robust.

  • The four-factor model is believed to represent four core emotional needs.

  • The model runs fairly parallel with four higher orders of negative schemas.

  • Positive schemas were linked with past positive parenting patterns.

  • Schema therapy should consider revising its model of core emotional needs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Persatuan Kebajikan HOPE worldwide Kuala Lumpur, No 26-3, Jalan 14/48A, Sentul Raya Boulevard, 51100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    John P. Louis

  2. Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

    Adam T. Davidson & Alex Wood

  3. Schema Therapy Institute Midwest, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    George Lockwood

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  1. John P. Louis
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Correspondence to John P. Louis.

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Conflict of Interest

The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: J.P.L. receives revenues from his parenting program that is taught, and books sold, worldwide. HOPE worldwide members in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore had no role in commissioning, designing, or approving this paper. J.P.L. also is a board member of one of the HOPE worldwide members. A.T.D. received payment for assisting the paper in a research associate capacity. A.W. and G.L. declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Louis, J.P., Davidson, A.T., Lockwood, G. et al. Positive Perceptions of Parenting and their Links to Theorized Core Emotional Needs. J Child Fam Stud 29, 3342–3356 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01807-0

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