Socially Prescribed and Self-Oriented Perfectionism as Predictors of Depressive Diagnosis in Preadolescents

Abstract

Perfectionism has been shown to be related to depressive symptomatology in both adult and child populations. However, there are no known studies of levels of socially prescribed (SPP) and self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) in nonclinical children versus those with a clinically diagnosed depressive disorder. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine SPP and SOP as predictors of depressive diagnoses in a sample of 10- to 11-year-old children. Seven hundred and eighty-six children (390 boys, 396 girls) from primary schools in low socio-economic metropolitan areas completed the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (CAPS) as part of a larger study. Children who scored above the clinical cut-off for the CDI also completed part of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents–IV. Fifty children met criteria for a diagnosis of a depressive disorder. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to predict diagnostic status from SPP, SOP, gender, and intervention group. SPP was the only significant predictor of diagnostic status. Implications for the treatment and prevention of childhood depression are discussed.

Longitudinal Links Between Perfectionism and Depression in Children

“…The magnitude of the association was also similar to the magnitude previously observed by researchers (e.g., Huggins et al, 2008). Further, consistent with most studies on perfectionism and depression, depressive symptoms shared a stronger concurrent relationship with SPP than SOP (Huggins et al, 2008;O'Connor et al, 2010;Kenney-Benson & Pomerantz, 2005;McCreary et al, 2004). Although both SOP and SPP were concurrently associated with depressive symptoms in Grade 7, the correlations between SOP and depressive symptoms was smaller than SPP (r = .11 for SOP and r = .29 for SPP).…”

“…As well, SOP failed to predict depressive diagnostic status in another study (Huggins et al, 2008). Hence, while some authors found support for a link between SOP and depression in both childhood and adulthood, there is more consistent support for a link between SPP and depression in cross-sectional studies.…”

“…One robust correlate of depression is the personality style of perfectionism which has been shown to be associated with depression in children and adolescents (e.g., Hewitt et al, 2002;Huggins, Davis, Rooney, & Kane, 2008), as well as adults (e.g., Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein, & Mosher, 1995;Hewitt & Flett, 1991a). Although depression and perfectionism are correlated across the lifespan, little is known about the temporal sequence between perfectionism and depression, especially in childhood.…”

“…Researchers studying perfectionism and depression cross-sectionally have reported that SPP and SOP are positively associated with depression in populations of nonclinical and clinical children (e.g., Castro et al, 2004;Huggins et al, 2008). Hewitt and colleagues (2002) demonstrated a link between perfectionism and depression in Canadian school-aged students.…”

“…Generally, researchers studying the perfectionism-depression relationship in children have not investigated (e.g., , or have not found sex differences (Einstein et al, 2000;Hewitt et al, 2002;Huggins et al, 2008;Kenny-Benson & Pomerantz, 2005;Soenens et al, 2008), with a few exceptions. In McCreary and colleagues' (2004) study on African American children, SPP was predictive of depressive symptoms one year later in boys only.…”