Perfectionism and rumination in depression

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perfectionism, rumination, and depression severity in non-clinical and clinical populations. To this end, a sample of 151 Argentinian university students (i.e., the non-clinical sample) and a sample of 42 Argentinian outpatients in psychotherapy with a diagnosis of a depression (i.e., the clinical sample) completed the Almost Perfect Scale, Beck’s Depression Inventory, the Rumination–Reflection Questionnaire and the Positive Beliefs About Rumination Scale. We found an association between maladaptive perfectionism, rumination, and depressive symptomatology, in both samples. Also, the study yielded differences between the profiles of perfectionism for the variables rumination and depressive symptomatology. Rumination mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression. Finally, we found that the level of endorsement of positive beliefs about rumination moderated the indirect effect of maladaptive perfectionism on depression. The implications of these results for clinical intervention are discussed, both in relation to the different profiles of perfectionism and to rumination as a cognitive mechanism of emotion regulation. Among the limitations of this study we can mention the use of self-report measures and the fact that the non-clinical sample was entirely obtained from a population of mostly female students of Psychology.