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Perfectionism, Coping, Social Support, and Depression in Maltreated Adolescents

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Abstract

The current study examined the associations among dimensions of perfectionism, coping, social support, and depression in 58 adolescents with a history of maltreatment. Participants completed the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism, multidimensional measures of coping and social support, and the CES-D Depression Scale. Correlational analyses showed that depression was associated with socially prescribed perfectionism, internalized emotion-oriented coping, avoidant-oriented distancing, and low family support and peer support. Analyses of coping responses and perfectionism established links between self-oriented perfectionism and internalized emotion-oriented coping responses and self-reliant problem-solving. Socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with avoidance-oriented coping (i.e., distancing). While self-oriented perfectionism and social support were unrelated, socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with reduced levels of family support. Collectively, the findings highlight the roles of poor coping and social support as contributors to the emotional distress experienced by maltreated adolescents. Moreover, it is suggested that the distress experienced by perfectionistic youth with a history of maltreatment reflects, in part, the role of maladaptive coping styles and coping resource deficits. Our findings support further consideration of personality dimensions such as perfectionism as contributors to poor functioning among maltreated youth.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the first and third authors. Gordon Flett was supported by a Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health. This research was also supported, in part, by a Canadian Institute of Health Research New Emerging Team Award from the Violence, Gender, and Health Program to Christine Wekerle (principal investigator) and Gordon Flett (co-investigator), as well as a Research Impact Knowledge Mobilization Grant awarded to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Gordon L. Flett & Tamara Druckman

  2. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Paul L. Hewitt

  3. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Christine Wekerle

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  1. Gordon L. Flett
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  2. Tamara Druckman
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  3. Paul L. Hewitt
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  4. Christine Wekerle
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Correspondence to Gordon L. Flett.

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Flett, G.L., Druckman, T., Hewitt, P.L. et al. Perfectionism, Coping, Social Support, and Depression in Maltreated Adolescents. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 30, 118–131 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-011-0132-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-011-0132-6

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