Abstract
Objectives
Perfectionism is a potentially maladaptive personality trait that is associated with dysfunctional family of origin parenting practices. In this research, a structural model was tested in which family cohesion was predicted to have indirect effects on perfectionism in emerging adults though anxious parenting and parental conditional regard.
Methods
The model was tested on a sample of 257 emerging adults attending universities in the U.S.A. Participants completed survey measures of perfectionism, their parents’ anxious parenting and conditional regard, and several indicators of family cohesion.
Results
The results supported the hypothesized indirect effects, consistent with the anxious rearing and social expectations theoretical pathways to perfectionism. Specifically, family cohesion was negatively associated with both anxious rearing and conditional regard, each of which were in turn positively associated with perfectionism.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that perfectionism in young adults is linked with low levels of family cohesion that coexist in a network of dysfunctional parenting practices.
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Author Contributions
CS: collaborated with the design and execution of the study, conducted the data analyses, and wrote the paper. TBK: collaborated with the design and execution of the study, and assisted with the writing of the paper. TJB: collaborated with the design and execution of the study and editing of the final manuscript.
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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The University of Arizona and Texas State University provided IRB approval for the study.
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Segrin, C., Kauer, T.B. & Burke, T.J. Indirect Effects of Family Cohesion on Emerging Adult Perfectionism Through Anxious Rearing and Social Expectations. J Child Fam Stud 28, 2280–2285 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01444-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01444-2