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Early maladaptive schemas (EMS), illness representations, and coping are associated with clinical outcomes of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the pathways that link these factors are largely unknown. The present prospective study aimed at investigating the possible mediating role of illness representations and coping in the associations among schema domains, symptom severity, and suicide risk in MDD. Participants were 135 patients diagnosed with MDD, aged 48.13 ± 14.12 (84.4% females). The Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3 was used to measure schema domains at baseline. Illness representations and coping were measured at approximately five months later (mean = 5.04 ± 1.16 months) with the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Mental Health and the Brief COPE Inventory, respectively. MDD outcomes were measured about 10 months after the baseline assessment (mean = 9.44 ± 2.36 months) with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Risk Assessment Suicidality Scale. SPSS AMOS 27 was used to conduct path analysis. Serial mediation Structural Equation Modelling, controlling for age, education, marital status, working status, MDD duration, pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapy, revealed that Impaired Autonomy and Performance was positively linked to suicide risk. Negative MDD impact representations and symptom severity serially mediated the aforementioned association. Finally, problem-focused coping was negatively related to symptom severity and suicide risk. This study’s main limitation was modest sample size. Representations regarding the impact and severity of MDD mediate the effects of Impaired Autonomy and Performance on future suicide risk in MDD. Healing Impaired Autonomy and Performance domain of EMS, restructuring patients’ representations of high MDD impact, and enhancing problem-focused coping could significantly reduce symptom severity and suicide risk in Schema Therapy with MDD individuals.

The transitional period of emerging adulthood can cause a lot of stress to the individuals due to the multiple life changes and the social pressure. Efficient emotion regulation and resilience can be proven important qualities in the face of stressors during this period. The aim of the present study was to test a path analytic model accounting for emerging adults’ resilience that takes into account emotion regulation strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and self-esteem. Also, two alternative models with reverse ordering of the variables to examine the theoretical possibility of reverse causation were formulated and tested. The sample consisted of 390 university students (70.8% females and 29.2% males) with mean age 20.64 years (± 1.83). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used to assess emotion regulation, self-esteem, and resilience, respectively. The results indicated that resilience was correlated positively with cognitive reappraisal and negatively with expressive suppression. Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and resilience, and fully mediated the association of expressive suppression with resilience. Thus, cognitive reappraisal had a positive direct and indirect effect on resilience through the mechanism of self-esteem, while expressive suppression had a negative indirect effect on resilience through the mechanism of self-esteem. Alternative directions of causality with reverse ordering of the variables were not supported. These findings suggest that efficient regulation of emotions can boost self-esteem, which in turn makes individuals capable of responding adaptively to stress. Implications for enhancing self-esteem among individuals experiencing multiple stressors during emerging adulthood are discussed.