PERFECTIONISM, COPING, AND DEPRESSION SYMPTOMATOLOGY IN A CLINICAL-SAMPLE

The present study examined the link between perfectionism and coping a nd the extent to which both perfectionism and coping dimensions relate to depressive symptomatology. A sample of 121 psychiatric patients co mpleted the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Coping Inv entory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Beck Depression Invent ory (BDI). The results confirmed that self-oriented and socially presc ribed perfectionism were associated with maladaptive coping tendencies , but the results varied by gender. Analyses of BDI scores revealed th at depression was associated positively with socially prescribed perfe ctionism for both men and women. Regression analyses found that the in teraction of self-oriented prefectionism and emotion-oriented coping p redicted unique variance in depression. Analyses of coping and depress ion scores by gender found that depression was associated with emotion -oriented coping among men. In contrast, among women, depression was a ssociated negatively with task-oriented coping, avoidance, and social diversion. The results suggest that levels of emotional adjustment ref lect stable individual differences in self-standards and perceived soc ial standards and related coping tendencies.