Perfectionism, Emotions, and Psychological Distress in Adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence

Abstract

Although the relationships between perfectionism and negative mental health outcomes are well-established, little is known about the development of these relationships and the role of emotional processing during adolescence. In this sense, the studies presented are part of a larger research project, of an observational nature, with longitudinal follow-up of perfectionism in adolescence. Study 1 (N=406) presents a cross-sectional approach based on data collected in 2019 and aimed to analyze the relationship between perfectionism and common psychiatric symptoms among adolescents, while study 2 (N=392) sought to explore the association between perfectionism and difficulties in emotional processing in a two-wave longitudinal design (∆=8 months, SD=3.7). The adolescents answered instruments to assess self-oriented perfectionism (SOP), socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP), presence of common psychiatric symptoms, neuroticism, and emotional processing. In line with expectations, higher levels of perfectionism were positively correlated with psychological distress and emotional processing difficulties. In study 1, analyzes using multiple hierarchical regressions indicate only SPP as a predictor of common psychiatric symptoms at T1, beyond neuroticism influence. The results of study 2 regressions indicate that both perfectionist dimensions at T1 are independently associated with emotional processing difficulties at T2. Some factors involved in the relationship between perfectionism and worse emotional processing are discussed, such as the pursuit of unrealistic goals, greater reactivity to stressors, cognitive patterns, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.