Exploring the link between perfectionism and depressive symptoms: Contribution of rumination and defense styles
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the mediating and moderating roles of emotion-focused coping strategies (rumination and immature defenses) in the relationship between perfectionism and depressive symptoms in a Spanish community sample. METHOD: 438 participants (67.4% female; mean age = 36.94 years) completed self-reports assessing perfectionism, rumination, immature defenses and depression. Multiple mediation, moderation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Brooding-rumination and immature defenses mediated the relationship between perfectionism and depressive symptoms. Also, brooding-rumination moderated the impact of perfectionism on depressive symptoms. The mediating effect of brooding in the relationship between perfectionism and depressive symptoms turned out to be moderated by immature defenses, such that the vulnerability link between perfectionism and depressive symptoms through brooding was stronger in individuals scoring high on immature defenses. CONCLUSION: Brooding-rumination and immature defenses may be essential mechanisms to explain the paths and conditions whereby maladaptive perfectionism gives rise to depression.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Positive fantasy engagement, cognitive biases, or personality dispositions may lead to emotion-focused coping, such as brooding, and subsequently increase the risk for depression.
“For example, positive fantasy engagement, cognitive biases, or personality dispositions may lead to emotion-focused coping, such as brooding, and subsequently increase the risk for depression [272,284,287].”
From Biological, Psychological, and Social Determinants of Depression: A Review of Recent Literature (2021) · cites this paper as [272]
A wide range of factors have been linked to depression, such as (low) optimism levels, maladaptive coping (such as avoidance), body image issues, and maladaptive perfectionism.
“A wide range of factors have been linked to depression, such as the aforementioned determinants, but also: (low) optimism levels, maladaptive coping (such as avoidance), body image issues, and maladaptive perfectionism, among others [269,270,272,273,275,276,279,285,286].”
From Biological, Psychological, and Social Determinants of Depression: A Review of Recent Literature (2021) · cites this paper as [272]
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,542 · see citing works
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532 · see citing works
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.40.3.879 · Cited by 34,117 · see citing works
Addressing Moderated Mediation Hypotheses: Theory, Methods, and Prescriptions
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1080/00273170701341316 · Cited by 9,973 · see citing works
Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Kemp, F. (2003) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series D (The Statistician) · doi:10.1046/j.1467-9884.2003.t01-2-00383_4.x · Cited by 9,294 · see citing works
Confidence Limits for the Indirect Effect: Distribution of the Product and Resampling Methods
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4 · Cited by 7,806 · see citing works
Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.1.1.16 · Cited by 5,512 · see citing works
The dimensions of perfectionism
Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01172967 · Cited by 4,279 · see citing works
Rumination reconsidered: a psychometric analysis.
Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1023/a:1023910315561 · Cited by 3,808 · see citing works
Holmbeck, G. N. (2002) · Journal of Pediatric Psychology · doi:10.1093/jpepsy/27.1.87 · Cited by 1,819 · see citing works
Adapting Educational and Psychological Tests for Cross-Cultural Assessment
(2004) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410611758 · Cited by 1,633 · see citing works
Explaining the gender difference in depressive symptoms.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Larson, J., & Grayson, C. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.5.1061 · Cited by 1,543 · see citing works
Perfectionism as a transdiagnostic process: A clinical review
Egan, S. J., Wade, T. D., & Shafran, R. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.04.009 · Cited by 961 · see citing works
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Watkins, E. R. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611419672 · Cited by 863 · see citing works
Perfectionism and maladjustment: An overview of theoretical, definitional, and treatment issues.
Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2002) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10458-001 · Cited by 741 · see citing works
The Defense Style Questionnaire
Andrews, G., Singh, M., & Bond, M. (1993) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/00005053-199304000-00006 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
Perfectionism and psychopathology: a review of research and treatment
Shafran, R., & Mansell, W. (2001) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(00)00072-6 · Cited by 664 · see citing works
Is Perfectionism Good, Bad, or Both? Examining Models of the Perfectionism Construct
Bieling, P. J., Israeli, A. L., & Antony, M. M. (2004) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(03)00235-6 · Cited by 630 · see citing works
Depressive rumination : nature, theory and treatment
Papageorgiou, C., & Adrian Wells, A. (2004) · Wiley eBooks · Cited by 610 · see citing works
Dimensions of perfectionism in unipolar depression.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037//0021-843x.100.1.98 · Cited by 602 · see citing works
The Relationship between Perfectionism and Psychopathology: A Meta-analysis
Limburg, K., Watson, H. J., Hagger, M. S., & Egan, S. J. (2017) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22435 · Cited by 602 · see citing works
Burwell, R. A., & Shirk, S. R. (2007) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374410709336568 · Cited by 494 · see citing works
Dunkley, D. M., Blankstein, K. R., Halsall, J., Williams, M., & Winkworth, G. (2000) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.47.4.437 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
Dimensions of perfectionism in unipolar depression.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.100.1.98 · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Perfectionism and depression: Longitudinal assessment of a specific vulnerability hypothesis.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., & Ediger, E. (1996) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.105.2.276 · Cited by 440 · see citing works
The nature and assessment of perfectionism: A critical analysis.
Enns, M. W., & Cox, B. J. (2002) · Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment. · doi:10.1037/10458-002 · Cited by 406 · see citing works
Rumination-focused cognitive behaviour therapy for residual depression: A case series
Watkins, E. R., Scott, J. L., Wingrove, J., Rimes, K. A., Bathurst, N., Steiner, H., Kennell-Webb, S. A., Moulds, M. L., & Malliaris, Y. (2007) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.09.018 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Coping and Defense Mechanisms: What's the Difference?
Cramer, P. (1998) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00037 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Empirical Studies of Defense Style: Relationships with Psychopathology and Change
Bond, M. (2004) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/10673220490886167 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Perfectionism Cognitions, Rumination, and Psychological Distress
Flett, G. L., Madorsky, D., Hewitt, P. L., & Heisel, M. J. (2002) · Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1023/a:1015128904007 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Smith, M. M., Sherry, S., Rnic, K., Saklofske, D. H., Enns, M. W., & Gralnick, T. M. (2016) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.2053 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
How Other-Oriented Perfectionism Differs from Self-Oriented and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism
Stoeber, J. (2013) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-013-9397-7 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Adaptive and Maladaptive Aspects of Self-Oriented versus Socially Prescribed Perfectionism
Klibert, J., Langhinrichsen‐Rohling, J., & Saito, M. (2005) · Journal of college student development · doi:10.1353/csd.2005.0017 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Sanz, J., Navarro, M. E., & Vázquez, C. (2003) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Blankstein, K. R., & Dunkley, D. M. (2002) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10458-012 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Perfectionism and psychological distress: evidence of the mediating effects of rumination.
O'Connor, D. B., O'Connor, R. C., & Marshall, R. (2007) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.616 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Dimensions of perfectionism, behavioral inhibition, and rumination
Randles, D., Flett, G. L., Nash, K. A., McGregor, I., & Hewitt, P. L. (2010) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.002 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Cognitive inflexibility and suicidal ideation: Mediating role of brooding and hopelessness
Miranda, R., Valderrama, J., Tsypes, A., Gadol, E., & Gallagher, M. (2013) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2013.02.033 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Perfectionism and the self-conscious emotions: Shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride.
Tangney, J. P. (2002) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10458-008 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Ego Defense Mechanisms
Pellitteri, J. (2002) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980209604149 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Harris, P. W., Pepper, C. M., & Maack, D. J. (2007) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.07.011 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
A preventive, psychoeducational approach to increase perceived social support
BRAND, E., Lakey, B., & Berman, S. (1995) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/bf02506925 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
A Critical Appraisal of Self‐Report Defense Mechanism Measures
Davidson, K. W., & MacGregor, M. W. (1998) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00039 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Graham, A. R., Sherry, S. B., Stewart, S. H., Sherry, D. L., McGrath, D. S., Fossum, K. M., & Allen, S. L. (2010) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0020667 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Adaptación al castellano de un instrumento para evaluar el estilo rumiativo
Hervás, G. (2008) · Revista de Psicopatología y Psicología Clínica · doi:10.5944/rppc.vol.13.num.2.2008.4054 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Blankstein, K. R., & Lumley, C. H. (2008) · Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1007/s10942-007-0068-z · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Merino, H., Senra, C., & Ferreiro, F. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156169 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Flett, G. L., Avi Besser, A., & Hewitt, P. L. (2005) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00352.x · Cited by 70 · see citing works
The escape theory of suicide and perfectionism in college students
Dean, P. J., & Range, L. M. (1996) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481189608252790 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Olson, M. L., & Kwon, P. H. (2007) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-007-9173-7 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Perfectionism, Stressful Life Events, and the 1-Year Outcome of Depression
Enns, M. W., & Cox, B. J. (2005) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-005-2414-8 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Schiena, R. D., Luminet, O., Philippot, P., & Douilliez, C. (2012) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2012.05.017 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Ayearst, L. E., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2012) · Personality Disorders Theory Research and Treatment · doi:10.1037/a0026354 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Sherry, S., Gautreau, C. M., Mushquash, A. R., Sherry, D. L., & Allen, S. L. (2014) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.035 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Emotion Regulation and Defense Mechanisms
Sala, M. N., Testa, S., Pons, F., & Molina, P. (2015) · Journal of Individual Differences · doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000151 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Multidimensional Perfectionism and Ego Defenses
Dickinson, W. L., & Ashby, J. S. (2005) · Journal of College Student Psychotherapy · doi:10.1300/j035v19n03_05 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Rumination and depressive symptoms: Moderating role of defense style immaturity
Kwon, P. H., & Olson, M. L. (2007) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.01.012 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Adaptación de la escala multidimensional de perfeccionismo a estudiantes universitarios españoles
Campayo, M. Á. R., Moreno, L. R., Ortega, E., & de la Torre, A. S. G. (2009) · Ansiedad y Estrés · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Cognitive Vulnerability to Emotional Symptoms: Reconsidering the Role of Worry and Rumination
Merino, H., Ferreiro, F., & Senra, C. (2013) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-013-9374-1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Reflecting on rumination: Consequences, causes, mechanisms and treatment of rumination
Watkins, E. R., & Roberts, H. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103573 · Cited by 862 · see citing works
Biological, Psychological, and Social Determinants of Depression: A Review of Recent Literature
Remes, O., Mendes, J. F., & Templeton, P. (2021) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci11121633 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
Xie, Y., Kong, Y., Yang, J., & Chen, F. (2018) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2018.11.028 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Cortés‐García, L., Takkouche, B., Rodríguez‐Cano, R., & Senra, C. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.082 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Transdiagnostic factors in symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress: a systematic review
Hernández-Posadas, A., Lommen, M. J. J., la Rosa-Gómez, A. D., Bouman, T. K., Díaz, J. M. M., & del Palacio‐González, A. (2023) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04792-x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-Compassion Mediates the Perfectionism and Depression Link on Chinese Undergraduates
Wei, S., Li, L., Shi, J., Liang, H., & Yang, X. (2021) · Annals of Palliative Medicine · doi:10.21037/apm-20-1582 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Perfeksionisme dan Distres Psikologis pada Mahasiswa
Hendarto, W. T., & Ambarwati, K. D. (2020) · Jurnal Ilmiah Bimbingan Konseling Undiksha · doi:10.23887/jjbk.v11i2.30524 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Martínez-Vispo, C., Senra, C., López-Durán, A., del Río, E. F., & Becoña, E. (2020) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-020-09812-9 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Choudhary, K., Mason, G. E., Correa, A., Fotinos, K., Lokuge, S., Greifenberger, A., Toumeh, E., Clarissa, S., Epstein, I., Sternat, T., et al. (2023) · Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100019 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Richardson, E. N., Beath, A., & Boag, S. (2024) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2024.2353142 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Perfectionistic Concerns are Detrimental to Skill Learning for Minimally Invasive Surgery
Kleinrensink, V. E. E., Lange, J. F., & Kleinrensink, G. (2020) · Journal of surgical education · doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.08.022 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Tran, T., & Liu, Q. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2025.02.029 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Lin, C.-Y., & Wang, K. T. (2024) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel15080965 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Tavousi, M. N., & Hashemi, N. S. (2024) · Journal of Assessment and Research in Applied Counseling · doi:10.61838/kman.jarac.6.2.19 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Peran Ruminasi pada Pengaruh Perfeksionisme terhadap Depresi pada Dewasa Awal
Grudug, P. D. D., & Surjaningrum, E. R. (2021) · Buletin Riset Psikologi dan Kesehatan Mental (BRPKM) · doi:10.20473/brpkm.v1i1.26798 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Mediation Among Maladaptive Perfectionism, Maladaptive Emotion Regulation, and Distress
Woodrum, J. L. (2020) · doi:10.30707/etd2020.woodrum.j · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Nealis, L. J. (2018) · DalSpace (Dalhousie University)
Javidi, N., Goudarzi, M., Farhangi, A., & Tizdast, T. (2021) · International Archives of Health Sciences · doi:10.4103/iahs.iahs_134_20
- Authors
- Senra, C., Merino, H., & Ferreiro, F.
- Affiliations
- Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (ES)
- University of Santiago de Compostela
- Corresponding author
- Senra, Carmen
- ORCID
- Senra, Carmen
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-12-18
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1053-1066
- ISSN
- 0021-9762 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-4679
- OpenAlex
- W2777061318
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 3.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Keywords
- perfectionism, depressive symptoms, rumination, brooding, immature defense mechanisms, emotion-focused coping, maladaptive perfectionism, depression, moderated mediation
- MeSH terms
- Perfectionism, Rumination, Cognitive, Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Aged, Defense Mechanisms, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
