Attachment Style and Early Maladaptive Schemas as Mediators of the Relationship between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence

Theoretical and empirical research suggests possible pathways between women's experiences of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and later intimate partner violence victimization (IPV-V) and perpetration (IPV-P), including attachment style and early maladaptive schemas. This study tested a model examining the unique mediating effects of insecure attachment and early maladaptive schemas on the relationship between CEA and IPV-V (n?=?396) or IPV-P (n?=?409) in college women. Contrary to hypotheses that both attachment style and maladaptive schema endorsement would mediate the relationship between CEA and IPV-V and IPV-P, regression analyses indicated the disconnection/rejection schema domain was the only significant mediator between CEA and IPV-V (p = .01). This same relation held for childhood emotional abuse and IPV-P (p < .001). These findings provide preliminary clinical utility for examining schema endorsement, the use of schema therapy (Young, Klosko, &; Weishar, 2003 Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S. and Weishar, M. E. 2003. Schema therapy: A practitioner's guide, New York: NY: Guilford.  [Google Scholar]), or both with women who have emotional abuse and IPV histories.     

The relationships between perfectionism,religious motivation,and mental health utilisation among latter-day saint students

The present study examined the influence of perfectionism and religious motivation on help-seeking and attitudes towards mental health services (ATMHS) in a Latter-Day Saint sample of 119 undergraduates. Increased levels of perfectionism significantly predicted more negative ATMHS. Higher intrinsic religious motivation was significantly and positively related to help-seeking from religious sources, but not from mental health professionals. Intrinsic religious motivation was also related to perfectionism, but only for adaptive subscales. The implications for focusing utilisation interventions towards religious populations are discussed.     

Daily fluctuations in perfectionism dimensions and their relation to eating disorder symptoms

Multidimensional perfectionism has been shown to play an important role in eating disorders (EDs). However, research examining this relation has primarily focused on relatively stable inter-individual differences between persons, thereby failing to examine how these variables are associated within individuals on a daily basis. This study examines how daily fluctuations in Personal Standards (PS) perfectionism and Evaluative Concerns (EC) perfectionism relate to each other and to fluctuations in ED symptoms. Adolescents (N = 275) completed questionnaires each evening during seven consecutive days. Multilevel modeling showed significant day-to-day fluctuations in PS and EC perfectionism, and showed that both dimensions are intertwined in the day. Among females, fluctuations in EC perfectionism co-varied with fluctuations in ED symptoms.     

Does Maladaptive Coping Mediate the Relationship Between Borderline Personality Traits and Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

The aim of this study was to identify associations between borderline personality (BP) traits and reactive and proactive aggression, and to compare the meditational effects of maladaptive coping in samples of older adolescents (n = 133) and young adults (n = 93), which has not hitherto been explored. This was a cross‐sectional study that used self‐report measures to assess BP traits on a continuum, trait‐based reactive and proactive aggression, and coping strategies. In adults, maladaptive emotional coping significantly mediated the relationship between BP and reactive aggression, and maladaptive avoidant coping mediated the relationship between BP and proactive aggression; no significant mediational effects were found for adolescents. These findings highlight potential explanations for associations between BP traits and reactive and proactive aggression in young adults, and indicate that reactive aggression in adult BPs could be decreased by reducing emotional coping, and proactive aggression by reducing avoidant coping. Aggr. Behav. 38:403‐413, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Dimensions of perfectionism and constructive thinking as a coping response

The present study examined perfectionism and general coping ability as assessed by a new measure of constructive thinking. A sample of 77 students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI). The MPS provides measures of selforiented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism, while the CTI provides various measures, including summary scores of global constructive thinking, emotional coping, behavioral coping, categorical thinking, personal superstitious thinking, naive optimism, and esoteric thinking. Subjects also completed a measure of depressive symptoms so that we could examine perfectionism and coping independent of current levels of adjustment. The main finding was that socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with less constructive thinking and more negative coping across most of the CTI subscales, and these associations remained significant after removing variance due to levels of depression symptoms. Self-oriented perfectionism was adaptive in that it was associated with active forms of behavioral coping, but it was maladaptive in that it was associated with a form of emotional coping involving reduced self-acceptance. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the cognitive treatment of perfectionists. Queen's University This research was supported by grant #410-91-0856 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the authors     

Perfectionism and Sexual Satisfaction in Intimate Relationships

This study sought to provide information on the relations between trait perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation and sexual satisfaction in married couples. A sample of 74 married or cohabiting couples were recruited from the community to participate in the study. They completed measures of perfectionism, perfectionistic self-presentation, sexual satisfaction, dyadic adjustment, and depression. The results showed that the interpersonal dimensions of trait perfectionism were negatively related to general sexual satisfaction and sexual satisfaction with the partner for both husbands and wives. After partialing out marital satisfaction and depression, the husband's sexual satisfaction was significantly negatively correlated with his own socially prescribed perfectionism and with his wife's ratings of other-oriented perfectionism. The wife's satisfaction was significantly negatively correlated both with her husband's socially prescribed perfectionism and with her own socially prescribed perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, and perfectionistic self-presentation. Regression analyses suggest that the wife's other-oriented perfectionism is a unique predictor of her general lower sexual satisfaction and her husband's lower satisfaction with her contribution to the sexual relationship. Overall, the findings suggest that perfectionistic expectations have an important role to play in sexual satisfaction in married couples.     

Assessing personality at risk in personnel selection and development

This paper demonstrates the validity and usefulness of a count technique to screen for potential personality dysfunctioning in NEO‐PI‐R ratings obtained in selection and professional development assessments. The usefulness of this screening technique for Industrial, Work and Organizational (IWO) psychologists is demonstrated in five different samples that were administered the NEO‐PI‐R for selection or development purposes. Three additional samples served as normative data to compute FFM PD count cut‐offs that can be used for selection and career development decisions. Evidence for the construct validity of 6 out of 10 FFM PD counts was provided, and all FFM PD compound scales were significantly related to important criteria, including the final selection decision, the results of a behaviourally oriented selection interview and self‐rated work competencies. The practical utility and limitations of this count technique for personnel selection and development are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MYTHIC RELIGIOUS NATURALISM

In his book Religion Is Not About God, Loyal Rue presents an evolutionarily based explanation of religion as a means to further the personal and social fulfillment of human beings. Rue argues that religions in the form of myths, adaptive falsities, provide an account of the connection between what is (facts) and what matters (values). Myths are false because they attribute subjectively based values to valueless facts, but adaptive because they motivate personally and socially beneficial actions. He maintains that the current crises of humankind, evidenced by both social conflict and environmental degradation, indicate that the major religious traditions—all of which project values onto some transcendent reality—are failing to serve humanity. To overcome these crises, Rue maintains that we need a new, scientifically based naturalized religion, one that attributes subjectively based values to Nature instead of a transcendent reality. I accept Rue's naturalism about values but reject his subjectivist account of them. Contrary to Rue, I show that the naturalistic fallacy sets no barrier to the existence of objective moral values. Modeling my view on the selection theories used in biology and psychology, I offer a scientifically based explanation of the origin and existence of objective values and support it with empirical findings from developmental psychology. Whether this account can count as religious, I do not address.     

Perfectionism and Deficits in Cognitive Emotion Regulation

The current study investigated the general hypothesis that perfectionists have deficits in cognitive emotion regulation. A sample of 100 students completed the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), and a measure of depression. Correlational analyses revealed that frequent thoughts involving perfectionism were associated with maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation tendencies, including catastrophization, self-blame, rumination, and lack of positive reappraisal. Socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies of self-blame, catastrophization, and rumination, and it was correlated negatively with the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies of putting into perspective and positive reappraisal. Trait self-oriented perfectionism was linked with self-blame. As expected, higher levels of depression were associated with perfectionism cognitions, socially prescribed perfectionism and deficits in cognitive emotion regulation. Our findings suggest the need for interventions designed to bolster the cognitive coping skills of at-risk perfectionists. This research was supported by a major research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. Gordon Flett was also supported by a Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health.     

Suicidal Thinking and Perfectionism: The Role of Goal Adjustment and Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Systems (BIS/BAS)

The current study investigated the associations among perfectionism, goal adjustment, behavioral activation sensitivity (BAS), behavioral inhibition sensitivity (BIS), and suicidal thinking. Participants (n = 255) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the BIS/BAS scale, the Goal Adjustment scale, and a measure of suicidal thinking. The findings showed that socially prescribed perfectionism was the only perfectionism dimension associated with suicidal thinking. Goal reengagement (but not goal disengagement) is an important construct in the suicidal process. A series of hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal reengagement moderates and mediates the effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on suicidal thinking. BIS was also associated with suicidal behavior but its effect was mediated via socially prescribed perfectionism. The theoretical and treatment implications of the relationships between socially prescribed perfectionism, goal reengagement, and suicidal thinking and between BIS, socially prescribed perfectionism, and suicidal thinking are discussed. Future research is required to determine whether these relationships are predictive of suicidal thinking and behavior over time.