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Abstract
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Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the role of schema modes in cluster B personality disorders.
Materials and methods: The participants were 220 individuals – 38 men and 137 women – selected from psychiatric
and psychological clinics in Tabriz, Iran. Among the participants, 153 individuals were diagnosed with
cluster B personality disorder (44 with borderline disorder, 16 with antisocial disorder, 56 with histrionic disorder
and 37 with narcissistic personality disorder). The remaining 67 participants had no personality disorder.
The diagnosis was based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders (SCID-II). All participants
(with or without personality disorder) were assessed with Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-
III) and Schema Mode Inventory (SMI).
Results: Vulnerable, angry and impulsive child modes are predictors of borderline personality disorder, and
angry child, self-soother and healthy adult modes are predictors of antisocial personality disorder. The impulsive
and happy child, the attack-bully and healthy adult schema modes predict histrionic personality disorder.
Finally, the angry child, happy child, self-soother and self-aggrandizer schema modes could predict narcissistic
personality disorder.
Conclusions: Special schema modes have a role in explaining cluster B personality disorders, and yet these
disorders may overlap with regard to some dimensions, especially in terms of cognitions and beliefs. This can
be interpreted as a lack of specificity in categorical classification systems such as the DSM.
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