Advancing complex explanatory conceptualizations of daily negative and positive affect: Trigger and maintenance coping action patterns.

Abstract

The present study addressed a fundamental gap between research and clinical work by advancing complex explanatory conceptualizations of coping action patterns that trigger and maintain daily negative affect and (low) positive affect. One hundred ninety-six community adults completed measures of perfectionism, and then 6 months later completed questionnaires at the end of the day for 14 consecutive days to provide simultaneous assessments of appraisals, coping, and affect across different stressful situations in everyday life. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) supported complex explanatory conceptualizations that demonstrated (a) disengagement trigger patterns consisting of several distinct appraisals (e.g., event stress) and coping strategies (e.g., avoidant coping) that commonly operate together across many different stressors when the typical individual experiences daily increases in negative affect and drops in positive affect; and (b) disengagement maintenance patterns composed of different appraisal and coping maintenance factors that, in combination, can explain why individuals with higher levels of self-critical perfectionism have persistent daily negative affect and low positive mood 6 months later. In parallel, engagement patterns (triggers and maintenance) composed of distinct appraisals (e.g., perceived social support) and coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused coping) were linked to compensatory experiences of daily positive affect. These findings demonstrate the promise of using daily diary methodologies and MSEM to promote a shared understanding between therapists and clients of trigger and maintenance coping action patterns that explain what precipitates and perpetuates clients' difficulties, which, in turn, can help achieve the 2 overarching therapy goals of reducing clients' distress and bolstering resilience.

Chronic Stress and Attenuated Improvement in Depression Over 1 Year: The Moderating Role of Perfectionism

“…Factor analyses of the FMPS, HMPS, APS-R, DEQ, and DAS scales have consistently yielded two higher-order SC and PS dimensions of perfectionism across samples of university students (e.g., , community adults (Dunkley, Ma, Lee, Preacher, & Zuroff, 2014), and depressed patients (Clara et al, 2007), including the current sample (Dunkley, Lewkowski, et al, 2014;see Stoeber & Otto, 2006 for a review). A growing number of studies have represented SC and PS through composite scores created by combining two or more subscales from several key perfectionism models because this offers an empirically-based integration of multiple lines of theoretical and empirical work (e.g., Clara et al, 2007;.…”

Personal Standards and Self-Critical Perfectionism and Distress: Stress, Coping, and Perceived Social Support as Mediators and Moderators

“…Although there are many ways to group coping responses within the broad domain of coping, one of the oldest and most often used distinctions is between disengagement responses (e.g., avoidance), which are aimed at escaping the stressor and are emotionally negative, and engagement responses (e.g., problem-focused coping), which are aimed at dealing with the stressor and are emotionally positive (see Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010;Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003). Based on an integration of various theoretical perspectives, our conceptual model (Dunkley, Ma, Lee, Preacher, & Zuroff, 2014; considers in parallel disengagement and engagement tendencies that are organized around threats and challenges to competence and are differentially linked to negative affect and (lower) positive affect.…”

Trying to Be Perfect in an Imperfect World: Examining the Role of Perfectionism in the Context of Chronic Illness

“…This is surprising in light of the number of proposed models aimed at explaining the linkages of personality in general to health (Smith, 2006;Vollrath, 2006) and theoretical models linking perfectionism to key determinants of health such as stress (e.g., Stress-Diathesis Model of Perfectionism; Flett, Hewitt, Clankstein, & Mosher, 1995a), coping (Dunkley, Ma, Lee, Preacher, & Zuroff, 2014a, see also Dunkley, Solomon-Krakus, and Moroz, Chap. 7, this volume), affect (Molnar et al 2006), and social support (e.g., the Social Disconnection Model; see Sherry,Mackinnon,and Gautreau,Chap.…”