Reliability and validity of the German version of the Young Schema Questionnaire - Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3)

To date, the psychometric properties of the German version of the Young
Schema Questionnaire–Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3) have not yet been examined.
We investigated the reliability and validity of the German version of
the YSQ-S3. In a community sample of 1,150 participants and a clinical
sample of 30 psychiatric inpatients, we performed reliability analysis,
confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analyses, and tested for
group differences using analysis of variance. The YSQ-S3 proved to be
reliable and corresponded to the theoretically proposed 18-dimensional
structure. Schema scores were positively associated with measures of
psychopathology and personality disorder, indicating convergent
validity. Furthermore, the YSQ-S3 differentiated between participant
subgroups defined by level of health-care utilization, supporting
discriminant validity. We conclude that the YSQ-S3 is a psychometrically
sound instrument that can be used in German-speaking countries in
research on early maladaptive schemas. Further research is necessary
particularly in larger clinical samples.