Self-critical perfectionism and lower daily perceived control predict depressive and anxious symptoms over four years / David M. Dunkley [and three others]

Includes bibliographical references (pages 744-746).

This study of 152 community adults examined whether perfectionism interacts with daily perceived control to predict depressive and anxious symptoms over 4 years. Participants completed measures of higher-order perfectionism dimensions [self-critical (SC), personal standards (PS)] and neuroticism at time 1, daily diaries for 14 consecutive days to assess perceived control over most bothersome events at time 2 three years later, and measures of depressive and anxious symptoms at time 1, time 2, and time 3 four years after baseline. Hierarchical regression analyses of moderator effects demonstrated that individuals with higher SC perfectionism at time 1 and lower perceived control across daily stressors at time 2 had higher levels of depressive symptoms at time 3 than others, adjusting for the effects of time 1 and time 2 depressive and anxious symptoms. Higher SC perfectionism also interacted with lower perceived control to predict time 3 anxious symptoms. PS perfectionism and neuroticism did not interact with perceived control to predict time 3 depressive or anxious symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of addressing cognitive appraisals of one's control over handling daily stressors for the prevention and treatment of depressive and anxious symptoms in individuals with higher SC perfectionism.