Abstract
Previous research has suggested that dimensions of perfectionism may interact with matching stressors to predict depression, but only one longitudinal study has evaluated such interactions in a clinical sample. This study evaluated whether Hewitt and Flett's perfectionism specific vulnerability model (1993) could account for persistence of depression symptoms over a 1-year period in a group of 157 outpatients with major depressive disorder. All analyses controlled for Time 1 depression symptoms. The main findings were that self-oriented perfectionism interacted with achievement related but not interpersonal life events to predict nonremission at Time 2. The interaction between self-oriented perfectionism and achievement-related life events predicted Time 2 BDI scores at a trend level only (p = .06). Socially prescribed perfectionism was strongly associated with concurrent depression symptoms at Time 1, but did not interact with interpersonal or achievement life events to predict Time 2 outcome and did not predict Time 2 outcome as a main effect. The results provide support for the role of perfectionism in the persistence of depression and for the specific role of self-oriented perfectionism in vulnerability to depression in the context of achievement life events.
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Enns, M.W., Cox, B.J. Perfectionism, Stressful Life Events, and the 1-Year Outcome of Depression. Cogn Ther Res 29, 541–553 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-005-2414-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-005-2414-8