Maladaptive and Adaptive Cognitions About the Self and Others: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Brief Core Schemas Scales.

This article focuses on the first psychometric evaluation of the Brief Core Schemas Scale (BCSS), a self-report instrument assessing adaptive and dysfunctional core beliefs about the self and others, within a Portuguese community sample. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original four-factor structure of the BCSS, though some fit indices were only moderate, possibly due to the non-clinical nature of the sample. The BCSS subscales demonstrated adequate internal consistency and showed expected correlations with early maladaptive schemas, psychological distress, symptomatology, and well-being, supporting convergent, divergent, and concurrent validity. Differences in BCSS scores between clinical and non-clinical subsamples further supported its clinical relevance. The study concludes that while the BCSS shows promise for assessing core schemas in Portuguese populations, further refinement and validation, especially in clinical samples, are needed.