AUTHOR=Lozano Luis Manuel , Valor-Segura Inmaculada , García-Cueto Eduardo , Pedrosa Ignacio , Llanos Alexia , Lozano Luis
TITLE=Relationship Between Child Perfectionism and Psychological Disorders
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology
VOLUME=10
YEAR=2019
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01855
DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01855
ISSN=1664-1078
ABSTRACT=Objective: Perfectionism is one of the variables related to the correct emotional development or with the appearance of clinical symptomatology in childhood. A study has been designed to evaluate the differential effect that each dimension of perfectionism (external pressure, self-exigency, and negative self-evaluation) has in a Spanish children sample of general population for each of the following clinical aspects: irritability, worthlessness feelings, thinking problems, and psychophysiological symptoms.
Method: By a random cluster sampling, a total of 2,636 children from 8 to 12 years (M = 9.9, SD = 1.2; 51.3% boys) took part in this research. A serial multiple mediators model was used to check the relation between external pressure over the clinical symptoms through self-exigency and negative-self-evaluation.
Results: The results have shown a predictive effect of external pressure over a great variety of clinical symptomatology (irritability, worthlessness, thinking problems, and psychophysiological symptoms), a relation mediated by self-exigency and negative self-evaluation. These relations suggest that external pressure and negative self-evaluation are maladaptive dimensions as they predict the appearance of symptomatology, being the level of self-exigency a protective dimension and favoring the child’s positive development.
Conclusions: In consequence, these results point to the importance of the study of these variables that can generate difficulties in childhood in order to improve children’s quality of life and their correct development.