Schema therapy conceptualizes psychological difficulties in terms of “modes”: momentary states combining emotions, cognitions, and coping responses. While most research has focused on maladaptive modes, the Healthy Adult mode, which represents adaptive functioning, has received comparatively less empirical attention. This study took a person-centered, transdiagnostic approach to examine how naturally occurring schema mode configurations relate to Healthy Adult functioning in a general population sample.

Using latent profile analysis, three distinct profiles emerged: an Adaptive profile, marked by low maladaptive mode activation and high Healthy Adult and Happy Child functioning; a Moderate–Mixed profile, representing a transitional state of moderate maladaptive activation alongside preserved adaptive capacities; and an Internalizing–Detached profile, characterized by pronounced vulnerable child modes, compliant surrender, and detached coping, together with the highest psychological distress. Profile differentiation was organized primarily around internalizing and detached processes rather than externalizing tendencies, and no distinct externalizing profile emerged.

The profiles differed significantly across all three dimensions of the Healthy Adult mode, but not uniformly. Balance (emotion regulation) was the most strongly differentiated dimension, followed by Battle (self-empowerment and resilience), while Bond (connectedness and self-compassion) proved comparatively resilient under moderate distress. This differential pattern provides empirical support for conceptualizing the Healthy Adult as a multidimensional rather than unitary construct.

These findings contribute to a growing emphasis on adaptive functioning within schema therapy and point toward more personalized intervention, in which treatment is tailored to the specific Healthy Adult dimensions most impaired within a client’s dominant mode profile. The study also represents the first application of the Multidimensional Healthy Adult Scale outside its original validation context.