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Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

Gepubliceerd in:

01-12-2009 | Original Article

Dimensions of Perfectionism and Self-worth Contingencies in Depression

Auteurs: Edward D. Sturman, Gordon L. Flett, Paul L. Hewitt, Susan G. Rudolph

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy | Uitgave 4/2009

Abstract

The current study investigated the role of contingent self-worth in perfectionism and depression. It was hypothesized that perfectionism is associated with depression because perfectionists base their self-worth on being successful and on the need to be actively working toward their goals. A sample of 170 female university students completed measures of conditional self-worth, perfectionism traits, perfectionism cognitions, and depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling revealed that a factor interpreted as Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism was associated strongly with contingent self-worth, which was, in turn, related to depressive symptomatology. In addition, contingent self-worth mediated the association between perfectionism cognitions and depression. Other analyses revealed that measures of self-oriented perfectionism that are often viewed as highly similar actually differed in terms of their associations with contingent self-worth. The theoretical and practical implications of the associations between perfectionism and contingent self-worth are discussed.

vorige artikel Psychometric Analysis and Tentative Shortening of Survey of Personal Beliefs

volgende artikel Bridging the Divide: Linking Basic Science to Applied Psychotherapeutic Interventions—A Relational Frame Theory Account of Cognitive Disputation in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

We compared the correlation between success based self-worth and self-oriented perfectionism to the correlation between success based self-worth and pure personal standards using Steiger’s Z (see Meng et al. 1992). The correlation between success based self-worth and self-oriented perfectionism was found to be significantly higher than the correlation between success based self-worth and pure personal standards (Z = 4.08, P < .05). In contrast, activity based self-worth did not show significantly different relationships to self-oriented perfectionism or pure personal standards.

This model was compared to an alternative model in which contingent self-worth predicted evaluative concerns which in turn predicted depressive symptomatology. The alternative model had poorer fit indices (df = 8, χ2 = 15.84, P = .045, CFI = .982, GFI = .973, NFI = .965) suggesting that the order of the variables in our model was appropriate.

Items pertaining to self-oriented perfectionism and pure personal standards were found to load on separate factors in a principal components analysis with varimax rotation. A 5-factor solution was obtained (i.e. five components with eigenvalues over (1) with roughly half of the self-oriented perfectionism items loading highest on the first factor and all of the pure personal standards items loading highest on the second factor.

An alternative model was tested where the contingent self-worth latent variable predicted self-oriented perfectionism and pure personal standards, which in turn predicted depressive symptomatology. This model did not fit the data well (df = 3, χ2 = 52.398, P = .001, CFI = .827, GFI = .896, NFI = .823).

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Titel: Dimensions of Perfectionism and Self-worth Contingencies in Depression
Auteurs: Edward D. Sturman
Gordon L. Flett
Paul L. Hewitt
Susan G. Rudolph
Publicatiedatum: 01-12-2009
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy / Uitgave 4/2009
Print ISSN: 0894-9085
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-6563
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-007-0079-9

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