Multidimensional Perfectionism and Ruminative Brooding in Current Dysphoria, Anxiety, Worry, and Anger

The current study examined links between dimensions of perfectionism, ruminative and distractive coping, and multiple measures of current distress (dysphoria, anxiety, worry, and anger) in 205 university students. A main goal was to test the hypothesis that perfectionism is related to a new measure...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of rational-emotive and cognitive-behavior therapy 2008-09, Vol.26 (3), p.168-193
Main Authors: Blankstein, Kirk R., Lumley, Crystal Hillis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Anxiety
Anxiety-Depression
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Community and Environmental Psychology
Education
Original Article
Perfectionism
Psychiatry
Psychological distress
Psychology
Public Health
Rumination
Worry
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Summary:The current study examined links between dimensions of perfectionism, ruminative and distractive coping, and multiple measures of current distress (dysphoria, anxiety, worry, and anger) in 205 university students. A main goal was to test the hypothesis that perfectionism is related to a new measure of the critical maladaptive component of rumination (i.e., ruminative brooding) that is not confounded with symptoms and confirm that both constructs function as non-specific vulnerabilities for emotional distress. Our study revealed numerous significant findings, including: (1) socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) was the dimension most strongly related to brooding in response to depression and anxiety; (2) SPP, self-oriented perfectionism (SOP), and brooding predicted various indices of distress; (3) SOP predicted anxiety and worry in women, and it predicted dysphoria and anger in men; (4) despite the strong associations between ruminative brooding and distress, perfectionism still accounted for unique variance in distress, and vice-versa. Implications for the issue of the adaptiveness versus maladaptiveness of perfectionism and for counseling perfectionists who fall into the “brooding trap” are discussed.
ISSN:0894-9085
1573-6563
DOI:10.1007/s10942-007-0068-z