PERFECTIONISM AND ITS IMPACTS ON INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY AND EMOTION DYSREGULATION OVER TIME

Abstract

The longitudinal impact of evaluative concerns (EC) perfectionism on two transdiagnostic processes, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and emotion dysregulation (ED), was examined in an early adolescent sample. Measures were obtained from a sample of primary five and secondary one students in Singapore (N = 735) at three time points over the course of a year. Auto-regressive cross-lagged analyses revealed that self-oriented perfectionism-critical (SOP-C) predicted IU and ED in at least one subsequent wave, but not vice-versa. Similarly, socially-prescribed perfectionism (SPP) predicted IU and ED in at least one subsequent wave but not vice-versa. Multigroup structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to determine if the regression paths were equal across educational levels and gender. The results revealed differences between education levels in the SOP-C/IU model and SPP/IU model. Specifically, SOP-C predicted IU in the primary five group but not the secondary one group, while no significant relationship between SPP/IU was found in either educational level. For gender, differences in the SPP/IU model emerged whereby SPP predicted subsequent IU in males but not females. Our findings provide longitudinal evidence in support of the current theories about how EC perfectionism relates to IU and ED. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.