Self-compassion moderates the perfectionism and depression link in both adolescence and adulthood

Madeleine Ferrari, Keong Yap, Nicole Scott, Danielle A Einstein and Joseph Ciarrochi

PLOS ONE, 2018, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: Background: Psychological practitioners often seek to directly change the form or frequency of clients’ maladaptive perfectionist thoughts, because such thoughts predict future depression. Indirect strategies, such as self-compassion interventions, that seek to change clients’ relationships to difficult thoughts, rather than trying to change the thoughts directly could be just as effective. This study aimed to investigate whether self-compassion moderated, or weakened, the relationship between high perfectionism and high depression symptoms in both adolescence and adulthood. Methods: The present study utilised anonymous self-report questionnaires to assess maladaptive perfectionism, depression, and self-compassion across two samples covering much of the lifespan. Questionnaires were administered in a high school setting for the adolescent sample (Study 1, Mage = 14.1 years, n = 541), and advertised through university and widely online to attract a convenience sample of adults (Study 2, Mage = 25.22 years, n = 515). Results: Moderation analyses revealed that self-compassion reduced the strength of relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in our adolescent Study 1 (β = -.15, p

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0192022

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192022

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