Adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism in depression : preliminary evidence on the role of adaptive and maladaptive rumination

Di Schiena, Raffaella [Ecole Royale Militaire] Philippot, Pierre [UCL] Luminet, Olivier [UCL] Douilliez, Céline [UCL]

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct, with some dimensions being adaptive (perfectionistic strivings) and others maladaptive (perfectionistic concerns). Evidence shows that perfectionistic concerns increase risk for depression because they foster rumination. In this paper two aspects of rumination are disentangled, i.e. abstract-analytical (AA) vs. concrete-experiential (CE), to show that depressive effects of perfectionism are associated with the AA rumination, whereas CE rumination should conversely be associated to perfectionistic strivings and unrelated to depression. Questionnaires assessing rumination, perfectionism and depressive symptoms were administered to 174 non-clinical participants. Consistent with hypotheses, results showed that AA rumination fully mediates the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and depressive symptoms. However, no complementary association was found between perfectionistic strivings and CE. Theoretical implications about adaptiveness of perfectionistic strivings, as well as cognitive treatment implications, are addressed in the discussion.