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Perfectionism, stress, and vulnerability to depression

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Abstract

The relation between stressful life events, perfectionism, and relative depression in a university sample was studied. Results indicated that the relationship between stressful events and depression was significant only for participants who scored above the median on a scale of perfectionistic attitudes. Additional regression analyses indicated that later depression was significantly predicted by prior depression and current perfectionistic attitudes. On the other hand, stressful life events and prior perfectionistic attitudes did not significantly predict later depression. Taken together these findings suggest that perfectionistic attitudes are a concomitant of depression and that they may mediate the relationship between stress and depression. Although strong evidence of cognitive vulnerability was not obtained, the need for controlled experimentation with clinical samples was discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, S7N OWO, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Paul L. Hewitt

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Dennis G. Dyck

Authors
  1. Paul L. Hewitt
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  2. Dennis G. Dyck
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Additional information

This article is based on part of an honour's thesis by the first author under the direction of the second author. The study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Grant #A9941. The authors thank Linda Wilson, Myles Genest, and David Burns for assistance in completion of the research.

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Hewitt, P.L., Dyck, D.G. Perfectionism, stress, and vulnerability to depression. Cogn Ther Res 10, 137–142 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173389

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