The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced by East Asian International Students

This study examined relationships among acculturative stress, grade point average satisfaction, maladaptive perfectionism, and depression in 52 East Asian international students and 126 North American students. Results indicated that a combined effect of perfectionism and acculturative stress accounted for more than 30% of the variance related to depression. Implications include the importance of attending to perfectionism and acculturative stress for improving the overall well‐being of East Asian international students. Este estudio examinó las relaciones entre el estrés aculturativo, la satisfacción con el promedio de calificaciones, el perfeccionismo inadaptado y la depresión en 52 estudiantes internacionales del este asiático y 126 estudiantes norteamericanos. Los resultados indicaron que el efecto combinado del perfeccionismo y el estrés aculturativo representó más del 30% de la varianza relacionada con la depresión. Las implicaciones incluyen la importancia de prestar atención a los niveles de perfeccionismo y estrés aculturativo para mejorar el bienestar general de los estudiantes internacionales del este asiático.     

Resisting temptation: alcohol specific self-efficacy mediates the impacts of compensatory health beliefs and behaviours on alcohol consumption

Awareness of health risks linked with excessive alcohol consumption appears to have little influence on how much some people drink. Compensatory health beliefs (CHBs), in which the consequences of unhealthy behaviour are considered to be neutralised by additional healthy behaviours, are one way of justifying poor health choices. Currently, the role of CHBs within the context of drinking behaviour is not well understood. This research examined associations between alcohol specific compensatory health beliefs (ACH-Beliefs) and behaviours (ACH-Behaviours), alcohol consumption and alcohol specific self-efficacy (ASE), via an online survey completed by 249 participants, aged 18 + years (63.1% female; M age = 41.62 years; SD = 14.80). Higher ACH-Beliefs were associated with increases in ACH-Behaviours. While both predicted alcohol consumption, a greater proportion of variance was explained by ACH-Behaviours. ASE was a significant mediator of those relationships, suggesting that those with higher ASE may be better equipped to regulate drinking behaviour. Recommendations for future research include measuring both CHBs and behaviours within an experimental design, and further investigation of related cognitions such as compensatory behaviour intentions. Alcohol misuse interventions may wish to consider the potential roles of CHBs and behaviours in facilitating maladaptive coping strategies, and how addressing these may reduce harms.     

Relation between coping and posttrauma cognitions on PTSD in a combat-trauma population

Individual differences in cognitive processes and coping behaviors play a role in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Given the large numbers of combat-exposed service members returning from the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) conflicts, exploring individual differences in cognitive-affective processes is important for informing our understanding of PTSD etiology and early intervention in military samples. The present study examined the unique main and interactive effects of negative posttrauma cognitions (i.e., negative beliefs about self [NS], the world [NW], and self-blame [SB]) and coping strategies (i.e., positive behavioral, positive cognitive, avoidant coping, and social and emotional coping) on PTSD diagnosis within 155 (M_age = 30.7, SD = 4.48) OEF/OIF/OND combat trauma-exposed Veterans recruited from an ongoing study examining the effects of combat trauma and stress reactivity. In the final, stepwise logistic regression analysis, avoidant coping, but no other coping strategy, was significantly positively related to PTSD diagnosis in the initial step. Higher levels of NS, but not NW, were significantly associated with having a PTSD diagnosis, whereas SB was associated with decreased likelihood of PTSD, above and beyond coping strategies. A significant interaction effect was found between NS and positive cognitive coping, such that greater positive cognitive coping weakened the relationship between NS and PTSD. Examining and addressing coping behaviors and negative thoughts of self jointly may benefit assessment and intervention approaches in a combat-trauma population.     

A re-examination of the 2x2 model of perfectionism,burnout, and engagement in sports

Studies examining perfectionism, engagement and burnout in sport have produced different levels of support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism. One explanation for why this is so is that researchers have used different measures of perfectionism when testing the hypotheses. To determine whether this is the case, in the current study we retested the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model for engagement and burnout using different measures of perfectionism. A sample of 401 adult athletes from various sports and levels completed measures of athlete engagement and burnout, along with two measures of perfectionism. Moderated regression analyses revealed that support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model did indeed differ depending on the measure of perfectionism. This was evident for both burnout (emotional and physical exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment) and engagement (dedication and vigor). The findings are aligned with similar work that has found differences in support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model when using other measures of perfectionism for engagement and, importantly, provide the first evidence that this extends to athlete burnout. Researchers will need to consider the influence of the measures of perfectionism used when interpreting, comparing, and summarising future research on the 2 × 2 model for these and other outcomes.     

Moral perfectionism and moral values,virtues, and judgments: A preliminary investigation

Moral perfectionism has a long tradition in philosophical inquiry, but so far has been ignored in psychological research. This article presents a first psychological investigation of moral perfectionism exploring its relationships with moral values, virtues, and judgments. In three studies, 539 university students responded to items of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost et al., 1990) adapted to measure personal moral standards (PMS) and concern over moral mistakes (CMM) and completed measures of moral values, virtues, and forgiveness, gratitude, and wrong behavior judgments. When partial correlations were computed controlling for the overlap between PMS and CMM, PMS showed positive correlations with moral values, virtues, reciprocal helping, forgiveness, and condemnation of wrong behaviors. In contrast, CMM showed a positive correlation only with indebtedness and a negative correlation with self-reliance. The present findings, while preliminary, suggest that moral perfectionism is a personality characteristic that may help explain individual differences in moral values, virtues, and judgments.     

Academic Hardiness as a Moderator between Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism and Academic Procrastination in Students

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a common phenomenon in students that can have a negative impact on effective learning, academic achievement, self-esteem, and quality of life. This study examined the associations among the two dimensions of perfectionism (personal standards perfectionism and evaluative concerns perfectionism), academic hardiness, and academic procrastination, as well as the moderating role of academic hardiness in the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism and academic procrastination. Participants of this study included 410 high school students in grades 9 to 12 from six schools in Tehran, Iran who completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Academic Hardiness Scale, and the Procrastination Assessment Scale. The results indicated that personal standards perfectionism and academic hardiness had negative relationships with academic procrastination, whereas evaluative concerns perfectionism had a positive relationship with academic procrastination. Interaction-moderation analysis demonstrated that academic hardiness only played a buffering role in the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and academic procrastination. The results of this study elucidate the experience of academic procrastination in students and highlight the role of academic hardiness and personal standards perfectionism. Implications for educators and psychologists are discussed.     

Dimensions of Perfectionism Mediate the Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Coping

This study explored the relationships among parenting styles, perfectionism dimensions, and coping through an online survey. With structural equation modeling and a bootstrap method, the results demonstrated that perfectionism dimensions mediated the relationship between parenting styles and coping strategies among 376 undergraduates (women, 80.6%; men, 19.4%; Caucasian, 94.4%). Thus, parenting practices may be antecedents to perfectionism dimensions that contribute to an individual's ability to cope with stressful situations. The implications for counselors and practice are discussed.     

Perfectionism and beliefs about emotions in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome and their parents: a preliminary investigation in a case control study nested within a cohort

Objectives: To investigate perfectionism and beliefs about emotions in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and their parents.

Design: Case-control comparing adolescents (age 11–18) with CFS (N?=?121), asthma (N?=?27) and healthy controls (N?=?78) with a 3-month follow up for CFS participants.

Main outcome measures: Adolescents: Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire, physical functioning, Beliefs about Emotions scale (BES), Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS). Parents: BES, FMPS, Self—sacrificing scale, Affective styles questionnaire.

Results: Adolescents with CFS did not consistently report higher levels of perfectionism and unhelpful beliefs about emotions than adolescents with asthma or healthy adolescents. Mothers’ and adolescents’ beliefs about emotions and unhelpful perfectionism were significantly associated (p = .007). Linear regression found that neither adolescent perfectionism nor beliefs about emotions accounted for variance in subsequent fatigue or physical functioning.

Conclusion: Parental perfectionism and emotion regulation style may contribute to perfectionism in adolescents with CFS. Parental representations could contribute to fatigue maintenance.     

The Moderating Role of Hope in the Relationship Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Anxiety Among Early Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine correlations among maladaptive perfectionism, hope, and anxiety and the moderating role of hope in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety among early adolescents. The sample of the study consisted of 639 early adolescents (354 female/285 male; Mean_age = 12.8, SD_age = .65, range: 11-14). In line with this purpose, the cross-sectional model was conducted. The findings of the study showed that there were significant correlations among maladaptive perfectionism, hope, and anxiety. Moreover, the findings found that hope moderated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety. More specifically, the findings suggested that among early adolescents with lower hope, the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety was stronger than those with higher hope.