Perfectionism, Self-Image Goals and Compassionate Goals in Health and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis.

This research focuses on ego-focused self-image goals as central to understanding the vulnerability inherent in perfectionism and the link that perfectionism has with poorer health and emotional well-being. The present study expands theory and research on perfectionism from a unique motivational perspective through a longitudinal investigation of perfectionism, the pursuit of self-image goals related to self-improvement, and mental and physical health among 187 university students. Our central finding was that trait and self-presentational perfectionism were associated longitudinally with self-image goals and poorer mental and physical health. Longitudinal analyses showed that perfectionistic self-presentation predicted subsequent self-image goals, controlling for initial self-image goals. Additionally, self-image goals were associated with worse mental and physical health and greater loneliness and social anxiety. Collectively, our results illustrate the benefits of assessing problematic personal goals in perfectionism and the need to revise existing motivational accounts by recognizing the important role ego-involved goals play in guiding much of what perfectionists do and how they act in their daily lives.

The Social Comparison Rumination Scale: Development, Psychometric Properties, and Associations With Perfectionism, Narcissism, Burnout, and Distress.

In the current article, we describe the development and validation of the Social Comparison Rumination Scale. This measured was developed as a supplement to existing social comparison measures and to enable us to determine its potential relevance to perfectionism and other personality constructs. The Social Comparison Rumination Scale (SCRS) is a six-item inventory assessing the extent to which an individual is cognitively preoccupied and thinking repetitively about social comparison outcomes and information. Three studies with five samples of university students are described. Psychometric analyses established the SCRS consists of one factor assessed with high internal consistency and the measure is reliable and valid. Analyses showed that elevated levels of social comparison rumination are associated with trait perfectionism, perfectionistic automatic thoughts, perfectionistic self-presentation, ruminative brooding, burnout, depression, and fear of negative evaluation. Links were also established between social comparison rumination and both narcissism and dispositional envy. Overall, our findings support the further use of the SCRS and highlight the tendency of many people to think in deleterious ways about social comparisons long after the actual comparisons have taken place. We discuss social comparison rumination within the context of concerns about excessive social media use and young people being exposed to seemingly perfect lives that became a vexing cognitive preoccupation.

Mattering, substance use, and addictive behaviors: review, analysis, and implications for treatment and prevention.

In the current article, we examine mattering to others as a relational resource and discuss how feelings of not mattering are uniquely implicated in addiction and substance use. We describe the mattering construct and how it is conceptualized, and we comprehensively review existing evidence based primarily on research with adolescents that links feelings of not mattering with addictive tendencies in general, and specific tendencies (e.g., excessive drinking and drug use and excessive social media use). A central premise of this article is the need to take race and ethnicity into account when considering the potential link between feelings of not mattering and substance use among young people with minority status and various ethnicities who may be especially prone to feeling marginalized and insignificant as a result of adverse experiences reflecting being ostracized and not socially accepted. Potential models of drinking and addictive tendencies that can easily incorporate the mattering construct are also outlined to underscore the conceptual relevance of feelings of not mattering to others. Mattering is also considered in terms of how internalization (i.e., not mattering to oneself) potentiates impulsive and risky behavior. Our article concludes with discussion of the implications for treatment and prevention in addiction and substance use and directions for future research that should further illuminate the role of feelings of not mattering to others and not mattering to oneself.

Totally All Alone with My Thoughts: Development, Psychometric Properties and Correlates of the Loneliness Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire.

Introduction: The current article introduces the Loneliness Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (LATQ) and describes research evaluating its psychometric properties and correlates. Methods: Two separate samples of university student participants (Study 1; N = 282, Study 2; N = 289) were administered the LATQ along with a battery of other measures. Whereas Study 1 involved a preliminary investigation of the psychometric properties of the LATQ, Study 2 provided an opportunity to further expand on this aim by assessing the concurrent validity of the measure across studies. Results: Overall, psychometric analyses confirmed that the LATQ items are measured with an adequate degree of internal consistency and confirmatory factor analyses established that the nine items loaded significantly on one replicable factor. Concurrent validity was established in terms of links with other loneliness measures and a measure of persistent and intrusive negative thoughts. Furthermore, LATQ scores were associated with anti-mattering, social hopelessness, anxiety, depression, and unbearable psychache. Moreover, regression analyses established that the LATQ predicted significant unique variance in depression and psychache beyond the variance attributable to measures of loneliness and adaptability to loneliness. Discussion: Collectively, results indicate that loneliness-related automatic thoughts represent a unique and important element of the loneliness construct. Future research applications and additional psychometric issues to address in future research are discussed and a need for a greater focus on the cognitive aspects of loneliness is explored.

Personality, Cognition, and Adaptability to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations with Loneliness, Distress, and Positive and Negative Mood States.

The current research examined personality and individual difference factors associated with the perceived ability to adapt to the significant challenges accompanying the ongoing public health crisis concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study investigated the associations among self-reported adaptability to the pandemic and personality predispositions (dependency, self-criticism, mattering, and self-esteem), cognitive factors (positive, negative, and loneliness automatic thoughts), loneliness, distress, and mood states. A sample of 462 college students from Israel completed an online questionnaire after 10 weeks of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results confirmed that personality vulnerability factors underscored by a negative sense of self (i.e., self-criticism and dependency) and individual difference factors reflecting self-esteem, feelings of mattering, and fear of not mattering are associated in meaningful ways with adaptability to the pandemic, loneliness, distress, negative mood states, and positive mood states. Most notably, higher self-reported adaptability to the pandemic is associated with lower dependency, self-criticism, and fear of not mattering, and higher levels of self-esteem and mattering. The findings attest to the central role of adaptability and related individual difference factors in acclimatizing to the numerous changes and challenges associated with the COVID-19 crisis. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

The destructiveness and public health significance of socially prescribed perfectionism: A review, analysis, and conceptual extension.

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality construct with various components. Socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceived social pressures and expectations to be perfect) is one key element. This trait dimension represents a chronic source of pressure that elicits feelings of helplessness and hopelessness at extreme levels. Unfortunately, at present, the destructiveness of socially prescribed perfectionism has not been fully recognized or extended conceptually despite the extensive volume of research on this dimension. To address this, we first trace the history and initial conceptualization of socially prescribed perfectionism. Next, we summarize and review findings that underscore the uniqueness and impact of socially prescribed perfectionism, including an emphasis on its link with personal, relationship, and societal outcomes that reflect poor mental well-being, physical health, and interpersonal adjustment. Most notably, we propose that socially prescribed perfectionism is a complex entity in and of itself and introduce new conceptual elements of socially prescribed perfectionism designed to illuminate further the nature of this construct and its role in distress, illness, dysfunction, and impairment. It is concluded that socially prescribed perfectionism is a significant public health concern that urgently requires sustained prevention and intervention efforts.

Effects of Historical Coercive Control, Historical Violence, and Lawyer Representation on Post-Separation Male Partner Violence Against Mother Litigants Who Participated in Adversarial Family Court Proceedings.

The primary objective of this study was to test the effects of historical male partner violence and lawyer representation on post-separation male partner violence and coercive control against mother litigants participating in adversarial family court proceedings. Toward this end, staff at two women's shelters administered a questionnaire to 40 former residents who met the sample selection criteria. Two findings are noteworthy. First, there was a decrease in mother litigant reports of post-separation physical violence requiring a visit to a hospital. Second, post-separation male partner coercive control "most/some of the time" was reported by 97.5% of all 40 separated mother litigants who also reported experiencing historical coercive control by their male partners. Recommendations and limitations are described in the final two pages.