Perfectionism and Self-Injury in NZ AdolescentsMADELEINE BROCKLESBY

PHD AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON

Perfectionism in Adolescents

“the setting of excessively high standards of performance”

(Frost, Marten, Lahart & Rosenblate, 1990, pp.450)

Personal strength

OR

Underlying vulnerability

‘If I fail at school, I am a failure as a person’‘I should be upset if I make a mistake’

‘I usually have doubts about the simple everyday things I do’‘It takes me a long time to do something right’

‘My parents never try to understand my mistakes’

‘Only outstanding performance is good enough in my family’

‘I set higher goals than most people’

‘I am an organised person’‘Neatness is very important to me’

(Frost et al., 1990)

Organisation

Personal standards

Parental expectations

Parental criticism

Doubts about actions

Concerns over mistakes

Perfectionism

Perfectionism as Multidimensional

Perfectionism as Multidimensional

(Frost et al., 1993)

(Frost et al., 1990)

Negative perfectionism

Positive perfectionism

Organisation

Personal standards

Parental expectations

Parental criticism

Doubts about actions

Concerns over mistakes

Perfectionism

Negative Perfectionism Positive Perfectionism

Socially oriented Self oriented

Primary goal is to avoid negative evaluation from the self or others

(avoidance)

Primary goal is to successfullycomplete a task

(approach)

Success = reliefFailure = decreased self-worth

Success = satisfactionFailure = re-evaluation of the standards

set for oneself

Self-worth dependent on achievement

Unrelenting and inflexible standards

Temporarily meets standards

but….

Fails to meet standards

Avoids trying to meet standards

Reappraise standards as insufficiently

demanding

Self-criticism, low mood, anxiety

The Negative

PerfectionismCycle

Meta-Analyses of Perfectionism Research

*p<.05; **p<.001

?

Negative Perfectionism

Positive Perfectionism

Maladaptive outcomes .39** .07**

Adaptive outcomes -.21** .18**

What about perfectionism and self-injury?

Meta-Analyses of Self-injury and Suicide Research

*p<.05; **p<.001

?

Negative Perfectionism

Positive Perfectionism

Self-Injury .15** .01

Suicide .25** .01

Experiential Avoidance Model (EAM)

I’m more useless now

Perfectionism and Self-Injury

What about perfectionism and self-injury in New Zealand

adolescents?

The Youth Wellbeing Study, Victoria University of Wellington

Results of the Youth Wellbeing Study

♀

♂

Negative perfectionism is moderately

associated with self-injury (r = .31)

Positive perfectionism weakly buffers

against risk of self-injury (r = -.14)

Positive perfectionism weakly buffers

against risk of self-injury (r = -.14)

What should we target in prevention and intervention?

What is the direction of this relationship?

??

T2 (+) Perfectionism

T3 (-) Perfectionism

T3 (+) Perfectionism

T2 (-) Perfectionism

T3 NSSI (Last year)T2 NSSI (Lifetime hx)

.52**

.67**

.37**

n= 186; **p<.001

Longitudinal Relationships – Males

Females

T2 (+) Perfectionism

T3 (-) Perfectionism

T3 (+) Perfectionism

T2 (-) Perfectionism

T3 NSSI (Last year)T2 NSSI (Lifetime hx)

.16**

.12*

.62**

.67**

.51**

n= 349 *p<.05; **p<.001

Implications for Clinicians, School Staff, and Parents

• Positive perfectionism is associated with less risk of NSSI

BUT…..

• In females, positive perfectionism predicts an increase in negative perfectionism, and negative perfectionism predicts increased risk of self-injury

• Positive perfectionism as an early warning sign

• Negative perfectionism is an important target for intervention

So….what can be done?

The Development of Perfectionism

Biological/Genetic

Societal and Contextual

Important Others

NCEA, university/workSocial media – perfectionistic self-presentation

Twin studiesTemperament • low novelty seeking & high

reward dependencePersonality

Modelling of perfectionismConditional praiseCritical parenting

Recognising Perfectionism

Behaviours

EmotionsThoughts

overvaluation of the importance of achievement

black and whiteall or nothing thinking

catastrophic thinking

attention to failure

should/must statements

embarrassment

anger

anxiety

guilt

shame

overly cautious and thorough in a task

excessive checking

re-doing tasksavoids trying something new

difficulty completing tasksprocrastination

Strategies for Change

• Pros and cons of perfectionism/combating ambivalence about reducing perfectionism

• Promoting appropriate goal setting (specific and achievable – not ‘be successful’ which is open to reappraisal)

• Balance between setting goals that you want to do and setting goals that you feel you should do

• Focus on progress rather than perfection

• Encouraging self-compassion and self-acceptance

Things to Consider

• Distress will often be masked

• Hypervigilant to signs of judgment or negative evaluation

• Perfectionists are less likely to seek help

• Perfectionism can negatively impact upon intervention for other difficulties

Any questions?