Giants with feet of clay: perfectionism, type A behavior, emotional stability, and gender as predictors of university students’ mental health

Abstract

The growing level of psychopathological symptoms among tertiary students is becoming a difficult phenomenon for institutions to manage. The present study aimed to analyze the complex associations of anxiety and somatization with predisposing personality traits, such as perfectionism, neuroticism, and type A behavior. The 248 university students (Mage = 24.4, SD = 5.45) recruited completed a state (the Symptom Questionnaire), stress (the P Stress Questionnaire), and personality (Cattell’s 16-Personality Factors Questionnaire) questionnaire. The results validated that perfectionism/self-control negatively predicted anxiety (β = -0.49, p < .001) and somatization (β = -0.35, p = .02); but also that it positively predicted psychopathological symptoms indirectly through adopting a lifestyle very similar to type A behavior (Anxiety: β = 0.14, p = .005; Somatization: β = .14, p = .01). Moreover, emotional stability and gender inserted in the model were significant as covariates for both Anxiety (β = -0.43, p < .001 and β = 2.18, p < .001, respectively) and Somatization (β = -0.55, p < .001 and β = 2.9, p < .001, respectively). Notwithstanding, emotional stability was a significant predictor only for type A behavior (β = -1.08, p < .001). In conclusion, our findings validated the double valence of perfectionism in determining the development of anxiety and somatizations. Preventing distress through managing the emotional states in tertiary students is becoming even more important, especially in this post-pandemic period that is exacerbating risk factors for mental distress.