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Perfectionistic automatic thoughts have been linked with depressive symptoms in numerous cross-sectional studies, but this link has not been assessed in longitudinal research. An investigation with two timepoints was conducted to test whether perfectionistic automatic thoughts, as assessed by the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI), are contributors to subsequent depression or vice versa. The possible role of a third factor (major life events stress) was also evaluated. A sample of 118 university students completed the PCI, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Life Experiences Survey on two occasions with a 5-month interval. A cross-lagged analysis using structural equation modeling showed that above and beyond within-time associations and across-time stability effects, perfectionism automatic thoughts contributed to subsequent depressive symptoms and not vice versa. Negative life events stress was correlated significantly with both depressive symptoms and perfectionism automatic thoughts but did not have an influence on Time 2 depressive symptoms or on perfectionistic automatic thoughts. Our discussion focuses on perfectionistic automatic thoughts as a contributor to depressive vulnerability according to the perfectionism cognition theory.

The Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS) is a 45-item self-report measure of perfectionism with three overarching factors: rigid, self-critical, and narcissistic perfectionism. Our objective was to create a brief version of the BTPS, the Big Three Perfectionism Scale--Short Form (BTPS-SF). Sixteen items were selected, and confirmatory factor analysis using a large sample of Canadian university students (N = 607) revealed the BTPS-SF had acceptable model fit. Moreover, the BTPS-SF displayed strong test-retest reliability. The relationships of the BTPS-SF factors with depression, anxiety, stress, emotional intelligence, personality, resiliency, and elements of subjective well-being also suggested adequate criterion validity. Overall, results suggest the BTPS-SF represents an efficient, easily administered, and novel means of assessing multidimensional perfectionism.

The Existential Model of Perfectionism and Depressive Symptoms (EMPDS) is a promising integrative model. According to the EMPDS, self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism indirectly influence depressive symptoms through rumination and difficulty accepting the past. Yet, the extent to which self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, rumination, and difficulty accepting the past uniquely and collectively influence depressive symptoms is unestablished. Likewise, supporting evidence derives from relatively healthy university students, rendering the generalizability of the EMPDS to more distressed individuals unclear. Our study addressed these important limitations. Data were obtained from 393 depressed individuals. Congruent with the EMPDS, bias-corrected bootstrapped tests of mediation indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism indirectly predicted depressive symptoms through rumination and difficulty accepting the past. In contrast, self-oriented perfectionism indirectly predicted depressive symptoms through rumination, but not difficulty accepting the past. Overall, the current findings highlight similarities and differences between trait perfectionism dimensions in mechanisms that link them with depression.

The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) and the Existential Model of Perfectionism and Depressive Symptoms (EMPDS) are promising models of perfectionism and psychopathology. However, research examining suicide ideation within the PSDM is scarce, and no research has examined suicide ideation as an outcome in the EMPDS. Moreover, tests of the PSDM and EMPDS have been conducted separately and most research has examined the PSDM and EMPDS using cross-sectional or two-wave longitudinal designs, which do not provide a satisfactory test of mediation. In the current study, we addressed these limitations by testing whether perfectionism confers vulnerability to suicide ideation via feelings of mattering and anti-mattering (from the PSDM) and via difficulty accepting the past (from the EMPDS) in a three-wave longitudinal design in two independent samples of undergraduate students and community adults. Participants completed measures on three occasions over 6 weeks. Findings revealed that socially prescribed perfectionism indirectly predicted suicide ideation via difficulty accepting the past in both samples. In addition, in the undergraduate sample only, socially prescribed perfectionism indirectly predicted higher suicide ideation via anti-mattering, and self-oriented perfectionism indirectly predicted higher suicide ideation via mattering. Based on our findings, we advocate for future research to include suicide ideation in the PSDM and EMPDS, to integrate explanatory models, and to examine a mattering-specific EMPDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friendships are important for the mental well-being of emerging adults. Socially prescribed perfectionism, where individuals feel pressured to be perfect by others, can be destructive, leading to conflict with others, depressive symptoms, and problematic drinking. However, its impact on friendships is not well-explored. This study examined 174 emerging adult friendship dyads using a 4-wave, 4-month dyadic design. Data were analyzed using longitudinal actor–partner interdependence models. Using a novel friend-specific measure of socially prescribed perfectionism, we found that an individual's perceived expectation to be perfect from a friend was positively associated with increased conflict between friends, as well as with higher levels of depressive symptoms and problematic drinking in the individual. Findings lend credence to longstanding theoretical accounts and case histories suggesting socially prescribed perfectionism leads to harmful individual and relational outcomes and extends them to the specific context of friendships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a new measure of dispositional perfectionism: the Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS). The BTPS assesses three higher-order global factors (rigid perfectionism, self-critical perfectionism, narcissistic perfectionism) via 10 lower-order perfectionism facets (self-oriented perfectionism, self-worth contingencies, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, self-criticism, socially prescribed perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, hypercriticism, grandiosity, entitlement). The present investigation examined the structure of the BTPS using exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 (288 undergraduates) and confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 (352 community adults) and Study 3 (290 undergraduates). Additionally, in Study 3 the relationships among the BTPS, other measures of perfectionism, and the five-factor model of personality were investigated. Overall, findings provide first evidence for the reliability and validity of the BTPS as a multidimensional measure of perfectionism.

In the current research, we illustrate the impact that item wording has on the content of personality scales and how differences in item wording influence empirical results. We present evidence indicating that items in certain scales used to measure "adaptive" perfectionism fail to capture the disabling all-or-nothing approach that is synonymous with the individual who is driven to attain perfection. Original and modified versions of two perfectionism measures of high personal standards and modified perfectionistic standards versions of these scales were administered to three samples of participants. A series of analyses established that item wording does indeed matter. In particular, our results differed for a modified version of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised when the focus was on a conceptualization and assessment of perfectionism that is fundamentally different from conscientious striving. The current findings are discussed in terms of their implications for scale construction and item wording in general and for the measurement of perfectionism in particular. The specific implications of these findings are examined in terms of understanding dysfunctional perfectionism and the current debate about whether certain aspects of perfectionism are adaptive versus maladaptive.

This study supports the generalizability of perfectionistic strivings and concerns across Canadian and Chinese university students (N = 1,006) and demonstrates the importance of establishing measurement invariance prior to hypothesis testing with different groups. No latent mean difference in perfectionistic concerns was observed, but Canadian individuals reported higher perfectionistic strivings.

Introduction: While individuals have many motives to gamble, one particularly risky motive for gambling is to cope with negative affect. Conflict with one's romantic partner is a strong predictor of negative affect, which may elicit coping motives for gambling and, in turn, gambling-related problems. Support for this mediational model was demonstrated in relation to drinking-related problems. We extended this model to gambling. Method: Using a cross-sectional design, we examined links between romantic conflict (Partner-Specific Rejecting Behaviors Scale), negative affect (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21), coping gambling motives (Gambling Motives Questionnaire, coping subscale), and gambling-related problems [Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)] in 206 regular gamblers (64% men; mean age = 44.7 years; mean PGSI = 8.7) who were in a romantic relationship and recruited through Qualtrics Panels in July 2021. Results: Results supported our hypothesis that the model would explain a significant amount of variance in gambling-related problems, β = 0.35, 95% CI [0.24, 0.47], and that the association between romantic conflict and gambling-related problems would be sequentially mediated through negative affect and coping gambling motives, β = 0.07, 95% CI [0.03, 0.11], and also showed a strong single mediation pathway through negative affect alone, β = 0.24, 95% CI [0.16, 0.35]. Discussion: Negative affect and coping gambling motives partially explain the link between romantic conflict and gambling-related problems. Interventions should target both negative affect and coping gambling motives in response to romantic conflict to reduce gambling-related problems in partnered gamblers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]