Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism dimensions and their associations with disordered eating.
This study examined the relationship between self-oriented and socially prescribed dimensions of perfectionism (using two measures of perfectionism) and disordered eating assessed across multiple time points in a sample of young women. Study participants (n=406) reported on their levels of perfectionism and on their subsequent patterns of dieting and bulimic symptoms. Self-oriented perfectionism was strongly linked to dietary restraint, whether using the theoretically derived perfectionism dimensions from the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) [Hewitt, P.L., & Flett, G.L. (1991a). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470] or the dimensions derived from the Perfectionism subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) [Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., & Polivy, J. (1983). Development and validation of a multidimensional eating disorder inventory for anorexia nervosa and bulimia. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 15-34]. A less clear-cut pattern emerged when bulimic symptoms were investigated, with both self-oriented (MPS and EDI) and socially prescribed perfectionism (MPS) being associated with bulimic symptoms. After controlling for negative affect, only a self-oriented dimension of perfectionism predicted unique variance in bulimic symptoms. What constitutes maladaptive perfectionism, concerns about using EDI-Perfectionism dimensions interchangeably with MPS dimensions, and future directions are discussed.
Bardone-Cone
Anna M
AM
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 210 McAlester Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. bardoneconea@missouri.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010551:Personality; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability