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Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between dimensions of perfectionism (self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism) and health functioning in a sample of 489 women with fibromyalgia., Methods: Hierarchical multiple regression was used to determine whether dimensions of perfectionism were differentially associated with health functioning among women with fibromyalgia after accounting for broader personality traits related to both perfectionism and health functioning., Results: The results confirmed that both socially prescribed perfectionism and self-oriented perfectionism were associated with lower health functioning. Moreover, these associations were found after accounting for the effects of conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. The findings involving self-oriented perfectionism were particularly complex and suggested that moderate self-oriented perfectionism may be somewhat adaptive, but too much or too little self-oriented perfectionism is associated with substantial reductions in health functioning among women with fibromyalgia., Conclusion: Collectively, these findings clarify that overall levels of perfectionism are not elevated among women with fibromyalgia, but those women who are exceptionally high in levels of self-oriented perfectionism or high in socially prescribed perfectionism are particularly likely to suffer lower health functioning. These results suggest that perfectionism should be specifically assessed and targeted for intervention among women with fibromyalgia and there should be a particular emphasis on the pressure to meet perceived or actual expectations imposed on the self., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study tested a model derived from personality theory in which perceived stress, perceived social support, health-risk and health-promotion behaviours mediate the relationship between perfectionism and perceived physical health. A sample of 538 undergraduate students completed a web-based survey assessing multi-dimensional perfectionism, perceived stress, perceived social support, health behaviours, physical health and a scale tapping elements of the five-factor model of personality. Analyses that account for the effects of traits from the five-factor model (e.g., neuroticism, conscientiousness and extraversion) indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with poorer physical health and this association was fully mediated by higher levels of perceived stress and lower levels of perceived social support. Self-oriented perfectionism was related complexly to health such that it was related to poorer health via higher levels of perceived stress, but was also related to better health via higher levels of perceived social support. Our findings illustrate the need for considering key mediators of the link between perfectionism and poor health outcomes.

Abstract: This study tested a structural model in which positive and negative affect mediate the relationship between perfectionism and physical health. A community sample of young adults completed questionnaires including the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS-H; ), the Positive and Negative Affect States Survey (PANAS; ) and items assessing three aspects of physical health. Results supported a structural model in which self-oriented perfectionism was associated with better physical health and this relationship was fully mediated by high positive affect and low negative affect. In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with poorer physical health and this relationship was partially mediated by low positive affect and high negative affect. These findings are discussed in terms of the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism within a general context of linkages between personality and health. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aims of our study were to test the role of stress in explaining the links between multidimensional perfectionism and sleep quality and to replicate our findings with two distinct samples and two different measures of perfectionism. Sample 1 included 335 Canadian undergraduate students (n = 276 women, M age = 21.7 years, SD = 4.9) who completed surveys assessing perfectionism via the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Sample 2 included 296 American adults recruited from MTurk (n = 141 women, M age = 34.8 years, SD = 9.8) who completed surveys measuring multidimensional perfectionism with the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Path analyses in both samples indicated that PS was related to better sleep via lower levels of stress whereas PC was associated with poorer sleep via higher levels of stress. There was no support for treating stress as a moderating factor of the association between perfectionism and sleep. Our findings substantiate that from a multidimensional perspective, trait perfectionism is both positively and negatively associated with sleep and further underscores the value of examining the role of perceived stress in understanding how multidimensional trait perfectionism contributes to sleep. • Multidimensional trait perfectionism was differentially related to sleep quality. • Higher levels of perfectionistic standards were related to better sleep quality via lower levels of stress. • Higher levels of perfectionistic concerns were associated with poorer sleep quality via higher levels of stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]