Coping Style as a Moderator of Perfectionism and Suicidal Ideation Among Undergraduate Students

'I live it all together…sadness, desperation': A qualitative exploration of psychosocial challenges and needs of young people after suicide attempt

This study aimed to explore the psychosocial challenges and support needs of young people after suicide attempt. In the research, the phenomenological approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were held with 16 young people shortly after suicide attempt. Data were analysed via content analysis. The data were categorized into five themes: effort to return to the old normal, living with remains, need for support, barriers to seeking help, and awareness. Understanding the psychological challenges and support needs of young people who have attempted suicide will facilitate future research and practice. To support young people in the acute period following the intervention, supportive interventions at the individual, social and political levels need to be established. These findings shed light into the structuring of supportive interventions to be applied to young people following a suicide attempt.

Suicidality among university students in the Eastern Mediterranean region: A systematic review

The prevalence of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation among university students is a global concern. Cultural values, social determinants, religion, and especially growing stress all play an important role in this. This systematic review aimed to identify potential protective and risk factors thought to be associated with suicidal ideation among students in the Eastern Mediterranean region and highlight the importance of developing an effective health care response. MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, WHO Global Health Library, IMEMR, Web of Science Core Collections and Farsi and Arabic databases were searched for papers in English, Farsi, and Arabic. A combination of validated filters, free text keywords, and Mesh and Non-Mesh terms were used to retrieve relevant literature. A total of 2774 papers were found after the search, 257 selected for full-text review, and 72 papers included in the final review. Family and peer support play a potential protective role in the development of suicidal ideation among university students, while adverse life events, bullying, depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions were identified as risk factors. Suicidality was likely under-reported due to stigma around social and cultural factors. Factors involving religion and culture may act as both protective and risk factors and require more in-depth investigation. The student population in the Eastern Mediterranean region face many challenges. The common theme of suicidality emerged as an indicator of an imbalance of resources and stress, which needs to be addressed proactively, given a most likely underreporting of suicidal ideation and attempts due to stigma.

Active and avoidant coping profiles in children and their relationship with anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic

Active and avoidant coping styles are important dispositional factors in the development of anxiety and depression symptoms. Children use both active and avoidant coping strategies together in daily life. No studies have investigated the relationship between active–avoidant coping profiles and internalizing symptoms in children. The present study aimed to investigate children’s active–avoidant coping profiles and assess the relationship that active–avoidant coping profiles have with anxiety and depression symptoms. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted among 322 Chinese children in the People’s Republic of China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist-Revised 1 at Time 1 and the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale at Time 1 and 6 months later (Time 2). Four active–avoidant coping profiles were revealed: low active copers, high active copers, balanced copers, and avoidant copers. Low and high active copers had lower levels of anxiety and depression symptoms than balanced copers and avoidant copers. Avoidant copers showed a larger decrease in depression symptoms than balanced copers and high active copers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to improve children’s active–avoidant coping profiles to relieve anxiety and depression symptoms.

Psychometric Assessment of the Persian Translated Version of the Romantic Perfectionism Scale Among Couples

Romantic perfectionismi can be disruptive to relationships, yet no validated measure for assessing romantic perfectionism in Iranian couples has been developed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to translate and validate the Romantic Perfectionism Scale (RPS) among Iranian couples. Participants in the study were 200 married men and 320 married women from Tehran, Iran, who completed the translated RPS, the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 online. Item impact scores were used to calculate face validity. Impact score values for all items were greater than 1.5, signaling appropriate face validity.. The Content Validity Index (CVI) and the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) were used to measure content validity. Values of the CVI were above the cut-off score of 0.7, implying satisfactory content validity of the items. The CVR values were greater than the Lawshe table (0.78) cut-off score, demonstrating that all items were essential. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using AMOS software was used to evaluate the construct validity. The results of the goodness of fit indices confirmed the RPS with two subscales (i.e., self-oriented romantic perfectionism and other-oriented romantic perfectionism) as per the original scale. All items remained in the scale as all factor loading values were greater than 0.45. The findings showed that the two subscales, and the scale as a whole, had acceptable internal consistency, as the construct reliability values for self-oriented romantic perfectionism (0.81), other-oriented romantic perfectionism (0.72), and the whole scale (0.74) were greater than 0.7. The results support the psychometric properties of the Iranian version of the RPS, which could be used by future researchers and clinicians to assess romantic perfectionism in Iranian couples.

Low Level of Perfectionism as a Possible Risk Factor for Suicide in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Introduction: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Although it is known that both perfectionism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ('ADHD') are important risk factors for suicide, there are no studies that have investigated the relationship between suicidal behavior and perfectionism among people with ADHD. Aim: The current study investigates the association between perfectionism and suicide in adolescents with ADHD. Method: Subjects included 88 adolescents with ADHD and 96 non-clinical control adolescents. We used the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale to evaluate perfectionism as well as its separate traits, and the Mini International Neuropsychologic Interview Kid to evaluate psychiatric disorders and suicidal behavior. Differences between the groups were statistically evaluated using t-tests, a Poisson regression analysis with suicide as a discrete variable, and a logistic regression analysis with suicide as a binary variable. Results: Compared to the control group, the ADHD group showed a significantly lower level on the adaptive 'Organization' trait of perfectionism, but not on any other trait, and a significantly higher level of suicidal behavior. Logistic regression results indicated a significant association for perfectionism in general (OR = 0.93, p = 0.003), and for the 'Personal Standards' trait (OR: 0.82, p = 0.039). Poisson regression analysis also showed a significant association with perfectionism in general (IRR = 0.90; p < 0.001) and with the 'Personal standards' trait model (IRR = 0.81, p = 0.019). Discussion: Our results indicate that a low level of perfectionism, in particular 'Personal standards', may be a risk factor for suicidal behavior in adolescents with ADHD. We recommend that psychoeducation and therapy of adolescents with ADHD should consider focusing on adaptive perfection as a possible risk factor for suicide as well.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Systems on Depression and Current Suicidal Ideation Through Rumination and Self-Reflection

This study aimed to evaluate direct and indirect effects of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and the behavioral activation system (BAS) on depression and current suicidal ideation through rumination and self-reflection in a sample of suicide attempters. Three hundred suicide attempters completed the Rumination/Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ), the Carver and White BIS/BAS scales, the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results revealed that the BAS and BIS had direct effects on suicidal ideation but not depression. Low BAS had an indirect effect on depression through decreased self-reflection. High BIS had an indirect effect on depression via increased rumination. Low BAS and high BIS had indirect effects on suicidal ideation through decreased self-reflection. The findings suggest that low BAS and high BIS may be associated with depression and suicidal ideation in suicide attempters who have decreased self-reflection and increased rumination. Also, increasing self-reflection and reducing rumination as respectively adaptive and maladaptive self-focused attention strategies may prohibit depression and suicidal ideation.

How to Cope with Perfectionism? Perfectionism as a Risk Factor for Suicidality and the Role of Cognitive Coping in Adolescents

Suicide among adolescents is a significant health concern. Gaining more knowledge about markers that contribute to or protect against suicide is crucial. Perfectionism is found to be a personality trait that is strongly predictive for suicidality; it can be divided into personal standards perfectionism (PS) and concerns about mistakes and doubts perfectionism (CMD). This study investigated the association between PS, CMD, and suicidality in a sample of 273 Dutch secondary school students aged between 12 and 15 years old (M = 13.54, SD = 0.58, 55.8% males). We also examined whether adaptive, or maladaptive cognitive coping strategies influenced these associations. We hypothesized that students high in PS or CMD would experience an increased suicidality. Moreover, we expected that adaptive coping strategies would act as buffer between the association of perfectionism and suicidality, and that maladaptive coping strategies would strengthen this association. For analyses, we used a regression model with latent variables. The results showed that higher scores in perfectionism (PS and CMD) were related to an increase in suicidality. High levels of maladaptive coping in combination with high levels of perfectionism were associated with an increase in suicidality. Although adaptive coping was related to a decrease in suicidality, adaptive coping in interaction with PS and with CMD was not a predictor of suicidality. The results are relevant for prevention, and intervention programs. This paper makes recommendations for clinical practice and further research in order to prevent suicidality in adolescents.

The Moderating Role of Hope in the Relationship Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Anxiety Among Early Adolescents

The aim of the study was to examine correlations among maladaptive perfectionism, hope, and anxiety and the moderating role of hope in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety among early adolescents. The sample of the study consisted of 639 early adolescents (354 female/285 male; Mean_age = 12.8, SD_age = .65, range: 11-14). In line with this purpose, the cross-sectional model was conducted. The findings of the study showed that there were significant correlations among maladaptive perfectionism, hope, and anxiety. Moreover, the findings found that hope moderated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety. More specifically, the findings suggested that among early adolescents with lower hope, the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety was stronger than those with higher hope.

Emotional intelligence as a moderator between perfectionism and happiness

Happiness plays a key role in influencing adolescent performance in a variety of contexts. The present study was designed to investigate the relationships between perfectionism, emotional intelligence, and happiness and to test the moderating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between perfectionism and happiness among Malaysian adolescents. The participants were 412 Malaysian high-school students from Selangor, all of whom completed self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine whether students with high levels of personal standards perfectionism, low levels of evaluative concerns perfectionism, and high levels of emotional intelligence reported higher levels of happiness. Multigroup analyses showed that emotional intelligence emerged as a significant moderator in the link between evaluative concerns perfectionism and happiness. These findings highlight the importance of emotional intelligence in mitigating the devastating effects of evaluative concerns perfectionism on happiness.