Maladaptive perfectionism, hassles, coping, and psychological distress in university professors.

This study examined the roles of hassles, avoidant and problem-focused coping, and perceived social support as mediating the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and psychological distress in a sample of university professors. Hassles and avoidant coping both partially mediated a strong association between maladaptive perfectionism and psychological distress. These results are discussed in terms of the need to better understand how coping styles and social support are associated with the negative impact of perfectionism on the lives of university professors. The implications of these findings for counseling practice are also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism as a predictor of subsequent adjustment: Evidence for a specific diathesis–stress mechanism among college students.

The relations among perfectionism, stress, subsequent psychological symptoms, and hopelessness were examined among 215 college students. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine whether dimensions of perfectionism (P. Hewitt & G. Flett, 1991) predicted psychological symptoms and hopelessness (1 month later), and the extent to which stress scores added incremental validity to these predictions. Results indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was a significant predictor of both adjustment measures. In addition, stress accounted for a significant amount of additional variance in predicting adjustment beyond perfectionism. Consistent with a diathesis–stress model, a significant Perfectionism × Stress interaction was found in predicting scores on adjustment measures beyond perfectionism and stress. However, this interaction was only found for socially prescribed perfectionism. Results provide support for a specific diathesis–stress mechanism and important implications for developing specific interventions in working with perfectionistic college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between perfectionism and distress: Hassles, coping, and perceived social support as mediators and moderators.

This study of university students (136 men and 307 women) examined the roles of hassles, avoidant and active coping, and perceived available social support in the relation between evaluative concerns and personal standards perfectionism and distress symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the measurement model used in this study. Structural equation modeling results indicated that hassles, avoidant coping, and perceived social support are each unique mediators that can fully explain the strong relation between evaluative concerns perfectionism and distress. Personal standards perfectionism had a unique association with active coping only. Hassles and social support also moderated the relation between both dimensions of perfectionism and distress. Clinical implications of distinguishing between evaluative concerns and personal standards perfectionism are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of psychological symptoms under high-risk psychosocial circumstances: Life events, social support, and symptom specificity.

Examined life events, perceived dimensions of events, and social support in predicting different types of psychological symptoms (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms), all within the context of a specific high-risk situation for psychological distress: the final-examination period for university students (N?=?167). Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results indicate that (a) certain dimensions of events and particular aspects of social support are directly related to symptoms manifested during final-examination stress, (b) perceived dimensions of events and social support interactively predict symptoms, and (c) depressive symptoms—in contrast to general distress or anxiety symptoms—are relatively specifically a function of events and support. Findings are discussed within the context of existing research; the implications for extending similar strategies employing other high-risk psychosocial circumstances are advanced. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social conflict, social support, and psychological distress: Evidence of cross-domain buffering effects.

A longitudinal study examined the relative and joint effects of perceived social support and social conflict on psychological distress in 228 college students. Women had higher perceived social support from roommates and friends and less conflict with roommates than did men; there were no gender differences in level of conflict with friends or psychological distress. Roommate conflict predicted increases in psychological distress over time; this effect was attenuated by high levels of perceived social support from friends. Friend conflict also predicted increases in psychological distress over time; this effect was attenuated by high levels of perceived social support from roommates. These results show the importance of negative and positive aspects of social experiences to emotional functioning and the importance of compensatory social support for individuals facing social conflicts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment in aging: The roles of life stress, hassles, and self-efficacy.

Examined the relationship of life stress, daily hassles, and perceived self-efficacy to adjustment in a community sample of 32 men and 32 women (aged 65–75 yrs). In a structured interview, negative life change events, daily hassles, self-efficacy, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and negative well-being were assessed. Both negative life events and daily hassles were related to psychological distress and physical symptoms for men, and hassles were associated with psychological distress and physical symptoms for women. An inverse relationship between self-efficacy and maladjustment was also found. Hassles showed the most powerful relationship to distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective investigation of the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage, life stress, and social support on early adolescent adjustment

In this prospective study, we investigated the effects of socioenvironmental conditions on adjustment during early adolescence. Participants (N = 339) were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at follow-up approximately 7 months later. Both stressful events and social support made significant contributions to the prediction of psychological distress and conduct problems at follow-up, controlling for initial levels of adjustment in each of these areas. Conditions related to socioeconomic disadvantage predicted poorer academic performance and higher levels of absences and disciplinary problems at school. Youths who experienced multiple conditions of socioeconomic disadvantage were found to demonstrate heightened vulnerability to stressful events (daily hassles) as well as a greater potential to benefit from social support received from adults in the school setting.     

Pre-hurricane perceived social support protects against psychological distress: A longitudinal analysis of low-income mothers.

Objective: In this study, we examined the influence of pre-disaster perceived social support on post-disaster psychological distress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Method: Participants (N = 386) were low-income mothers between 18 and 34 years of age at baseline (M = 26.4, SD = 4.43). The majority (84.8%) was African American; 10.4% identified as Caucasian, 3.2% identified as Hispanic, and 1.8% identified as other. Participants were enrolled in an educational intervention study in 2004 and 2005. Those who had completed a 1-year follow-up assessment prior to Hurricane Katrina were reassessed approximately 1 year after the hurricane. Measures of perceived social support and psychological distress were included in pre- and post-disaster assessments. Using structural equation modeling and multiple mediator analysis, we tested a model wherein pre-disaster perceived social support predicted post-disaster psychological distress both directly and indirectly through its effects on pre-disaster psychological distress, exposure to hurricane-related stressors, and post-disaster perceived social support. We predicted that higher pre-disaster perceived social support would be predictive of lower pre-disaster psychological distress, lower hurricane-related stressors, and higher post-disaster perceived social support, and that these variables would, in turn, predict lower post-disaster psychologically distress. Results: Our analyses provide partial support for the hypothesized model. Although pre-disaster perceived social support did not exert a direct effect on post-disaster psychological distress, the indirect effects of all 3 proposed mediators were significant. Conclusions: Pre-disaster social support can decrease both exposure to natural disasters and the negative psychological effects of natural disaster exposure. These findings underscore the importance of bolstering the post-disaster social support networks of low-income mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive mediation of rape's mental, physical and social health impact: Tests of four models in cross-sectional data.

Four nested, theoretically specified, increasingly complex models were tested representing cognitive mediation of rape's effects on mental, physical, and social health. Data were cross-sectional (N = 253 rape survivors). Outcomes were standardized assessments of social maladjustment, physical, and psychological symptoms, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The best-fitting model was not fully cognitively mediated. Personological and rape characteristics influenced the level of self-blame experienced and the intensity of maladaptive beliefs about self and others. Self-blame and maladaptive beliefs predicted psychological distress, which strongly influenced all health outcomes. Self-ratings of rape memory characteristics contributed little to predicting postrape distress. The model accounted for 56% of the variance in general distress, including 91% of psychological symptom severity; 54% of PTSD symptoms; 65% of social maladjustment; and 17% of physical symptoms. Longitudinal replication is planned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism, negative social feedback, and interpersonal rumination in depression and social anxiety.

The current study investigated the associations among trait perfectionism, perfectionistic self-presentation, negative social feedback, interpersonal rumination, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety. New measures of negative social feedback and interpersonal rumination were used to evaluate their relevance to the social aspects of perfectionism and their roles in distress. A sample of 155 undergraduate students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale, the Social Feedback Questionnaire, Rumination About an Interpersonal Offense, and measures of depressive symptoms and social anxiety. The results confirmed that socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation were associated significantly with negative social feedback and rumination following interpersonal events (i.e., being hurt, humiliated, mistreated). Also, depressive symptoms and social anxiety were associated significantly with negative social feedback, interpersonal rumination, trait perfectionism, and perfectionistic self-presentation. Additional analyses indicated that negative social feedback and interpersonal rumination mediated the links between components of the perfectionism construct and distress. Overall, our findings suggest that self-reported receipt of frequent negative feedback from others and engaging in rumination about an interpersonal event play important roles in the distress experienced by certain individuals with high levels of perfectionism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and initial validation of the Inventory of Microaggressions Against Black Individuals.

The present article describes the development and initial validation of the Inventory of Microaggressions Against Black Individuals (IMABI) using a sample of 385 undergraduates who self-identified as Black or African American. The IMABI is a 14-item, unidimensional measure of racial microaggressions that captures both microinsults and microinvalidations. The present findings support the IMABI as a reliable and valid measure of microaggressions that was associated with general distress and perceived stress. Importantly, the association between the IMABI and psychological adjustment persisted even when social desirability and another measure of race-related stress were included in the analyses. Discussion focuses on the potential implications of the IMABI for understanding the daily experiences and psychological adjustment of Black individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting hopelessness and psychological distress: The role of perfectionism and coping.

This study investigated an integrative model involving the relationship between perfectionism (P. L. Hewitt & G. L. Flett, 1991) and coping (C. S. Carver, A F. Scheier. & J. K. Weintraub, 1989) to predict changes in hopelessness and general psychological distress among college students. Results indicated that changes in psychological well-being (4-5 weeks later) were predicted by socially prescribed perfectionism, and, as theorized, avoidance coping moderated the link between perfectionism and psychological well-being beyond initial levels of distress. Support was also found for the adaptive effects of cognitive reconstruction coping and other-oriented perfectionism, whereas, under certain conditions, self-oriented perfectionism was shown to be maladaptive. These findings offer support for the proposed model. Implications for intervention and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social context of school satisfaction among urban, low-income, African-American students.

Nonacademic, contextual factors influencing school satisfaction among 129 low-income, urban, African-American, elementary-school students (aged 8–13 yrs) were examined. Path analysis was used to evaluate the role of classroom social climate, stress, social support, quality of family life, psychological distress, and academic self-concept in predicting school satisfaction, which is one indicator of positive subjective well-being. Results suggest that, of the variables considered, students' perception of a caring, supportive school community had the most substantive impact on their satisfaction with school. Implications for the school psychologists' prevention and intervention efforts with "at-risk" children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived social support, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion.

Prior to their having a 1st trimester abortion, women's perceptions of social support from their partner, family, and friends and self-efficacy for coping were assessed. Depression, mood, physical complaints, and anticipation of negative consequences were measured after the 30-min recovery period. As predicted, perceived social support enhanced adjustment indirectly through its effects on self-efficacy. Women who perceived high support from their family, friends, and partners had higher self-efficacy for coping. Higher self-efficacy, in turn, predicted better adjustment on the psychological measures but not on the physical complaint measure. No direct path between social support and adjustment was observed. In addition, women who told close others of their abortion but perceived them as less than completely supportive had poorer postabortion psychological adjustment than either women who did not tell or women who told and perceived complete support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of emotional dysregulation in perfectionism and psychological distress.

Data from a sample of university students (N = 349) were used to test a model in which emotional dysregulation (a composite of emotional reactivity and splitting) was expected to account for the effect of perfectionism on general psychological distress. Significant positive effects were observed between maladaptive perfectionism and distress, whereas significant inverse effects were found for adaptive perfectionism. Structural equations analyses revealed support for a possibly mediational role of emotional dysregulation. Future research suggestions as well as counseling recommendations are proposed that target emotional regulatory features of the client with perfectionistic tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ovarian Cancer Patients' Psychological Distress: The Role of Physical Impairment, Perceived Unsupportive Family and Friend Behaviors, Perceived Control, and Self-Esteem.

Although research has indicated that illness-related and interpersonal stress are associated with greater psychological distress among cancer patients, little empirical attention has been given to mechanisms that account for these relationships. In the present study, 2 mechanisms for the association between illness-related stress (physical impairment) and interpersonal stress (family and friend unsupportive responses) and psychological distress of 143 ovarian cancer patients were examined cross-sectionally. Separate structural equation models tested whether physical impairment impacted patients' distress via decrements in perceived control over their illness and whether unsupportive behaviors impacted patients' distress via decrements in patients' self-esteem. Results supported the proposed models and suggest that perceived control and self-esteem are 2 mechanisms for explaining how illness-related and interpersonal stress may be associated with psychological distress among women with ovarian cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress, maternal distress, and children's adjustment following immigration: The buffering role of social support.

This study examined, in the context of a stress-buffering model, the relationship of certain family level variables to children's adjustment after immigration. Immigrant Chinese mothers from Hong Kong completed questionnaires regarding postmigration stress, personal distress, perceived social support, and their child's adjustment. Another adult also provided child behavior ratings. Analyses revealed that, for boys, family stress and maternal distress were significant predictors of child problems and that maternal support buffered the association between family stress and child problems. Contrary to expectation, the relationship between maternal distress and boys' problems was stronger at higher levels of maternal support. For families of girls, although there were significant relationships between the predictors and child behavior, no stress buffering was evident. Cultural explanations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neither colorblind nor oppositional: Perceived minority status and trajectories of academic adjustment among Latinos in elite higher education.

As more Latinos experience upward social mobility, it is increasingly necessary to challenge oppositional cultural assumptions to explain how perceived minority status barriers may influence their academic achievement. The present study builds on previous work that identified 3 distinct minority status orientations among Latino college students entering elite colleges—which the authors call assimilation, accommodation, and resistance. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, the authors examined how these orientations influence Latino students’ academic and social adjustment from their freshman to junior years of college. Latino students who most strongly questioned the openness of the opportunity structure to ethnic minorities—resisters—reported similar grades and time spent studying as their counterparts who perceived less ethnic and racial inequities. In addition, resisters did not disengage from their social environment but rather became increasingly involved in campus activities outside the classroom during their college career. Implications for understanding ethnic minority individuals’ interpretations of social stratification in well-resourced, high-achieving contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-concealment, avoidance of psychological services, and perceived likelihood of seeking professional help.

Undergraduate students (N?=?732) completed questionnaires about their perceived likelihood of seeking professional psychological help, attitudes toward psychotherapy, fears of psychotherapy, psychological distress, social support, and self-concealment. Self-concealment (a person's tendency to keep intimate information secret) was positively associated with self-reported distress and avoidance of needed psychological treatment. Although low social support was associated with greater perceived likelihood of seeking help, this effect was canceled at high levels of self-concealment. Specific types of distress selectively predicted perceived likelihood of seeking help as a function of the type of problem for which help would have been sought. Overall, the data contradicted previous findings and conclusions that suggested high self-concealers were more inclined than low self-concealers to seek psychological services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism, perceived weight status, and bulimic symptoms: Two studies testing a diathesis-stress model.

Among a total of 890 women from 2 separate nonclinical samples (1 collected in 1982 on college undergraduates, n?=?435, and 1 collected in 1992 on women who were in college in 1982, n?=?455), the authors tested a diathesis-stress model of the interrelations of perfectionism, perceived weight status, and bulimic symptoms. The authors predicted and found that perfectionism served as a risk factor for bulimic symptoms for women who perceived themselves as overweight but did not serve as a risk factor for those who did not perceive themselves as overweight. Perceived weight activated perfectionism as a predictor of bulimic symptoms; actual weight did not serve the same role. These findings are discussed in the context of recent clinical and social psychological theory regarding development of bulimic symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)