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Perfectionism and Stressful Perseveration in the Psychophysiological Experience of Stress: A 7-Day Multi-Method Study

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Abstract

Models of perfectionism and stress have become increasingly complex, yet perseverative cognition has been largely absent from these models and remains under-represented in the perfectionism and stress literature. This research makes several key advances by testing the perseverative cognition hypothesis in relation to perfectionism and daily stress in a community sample of 100 working professionals. We collected data over a 7-day period using a multi-method daily diary design including self-report measures of daily experiences and daily heart rate variability (HRV), which is thought to reflect physiological adaptation to stress. HRV was measured daily using 15-min samples at the end of each day. Data were aggregated across days and analyzed using path analysis. Results showed self-critical perfectionism predicted poorer adaptation to stress directly and indirectly through perseverative cognition pathways (i.e., the combined effect of daily stress and event-focused rumination). However, considering the impact of daily stress alone did not show detrimental effects on HRV. Perfectionistic strivings was not related to perseverative cognition pathways, but it showed a small positive direct effect on HRV. Findings highlight perseverative cognition as a useful framework for understanding perfectionism and physiological adaptation to stress, and this research points toward the development of an integrative bio-psycho-social model of perfectionism and stress vulnerability.

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Notes

  1. Previous research (e.g., Dunkley et al., 2014a) has used the personal standards subscale of the Almost Perfect Scale Revised (APS-R; Slaney et al., 2001) in perfectionistic strivings, although this subscale has notable limitations in measuring perfectionism (Blasberg et al., 2016). To address these concerns, we used the EDI-SOP as an alternative measure of perfectionistic standards.

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Funding

This manuscript was funded by a grant awarded to Logan J. Nealis, Dayna L. Lee-Baggley, and Simon B. Sherry from the Nova Scotia Health Authority Research Fund and an operating grant awarded to Simon B. Sherry from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We thank Megan Cowie, Robyn Moore, Jenna McDonald, Athena Milios, Gemma Elsworth-Spotton, Victoria Luong, and Tiffani Young for their research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Logan J. Nealis & Simon B. Sherry

  2. Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Dayna L. Lee-Baggley

  3. Department of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Dayna L. Lee-Baggley

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  1. Logan J. Nealis
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This manuscript was based on a research project conducted by Logan J. Nealis as part of his dissertation research. Logan J. Nealis was supervised by Simon B. Sherry.

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Correspondence to Logan J. Nealis.

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Ethical approval for this study was granted by the [Institution blinded for review] Health Sciences Research Ethics Board on July 15, 2014 (Reference number 2014-3304).

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Logan J. Nealis, Simon B. Sherry and Dayna L. Lee-Baggley declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Nealis, L.J., Sherry, S.B. & Lee-Baggley, D.L. Perfectionism and Stressful Perseveration in the Psychophysiological Experience of Stress: A 7-Day Multi-Method Study. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 44, 202–213 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-021-09932-w

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