The Role of Emotional Dysregulation in Perfectionism and Psychological Distress

Aldea, Mirela A.
Rice, Kenneth G.

¹Department of Psychology, University of Florida

²Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mirela A. Aldea, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail: [email protected]

³Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kenneth G. Rice, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail: [email protected]

Portions of this study were presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA, March 2004. We are grateful to Vicki Burns, Camille Hood, Anne Kubal, Amy LaClaire, Rachel Lauber, Yu-Rim Lee, Brooke Leever, Steven Pence, Leo Suarez, Deborah Townsend, and Michael Wood for their help with this research.

Received Date: May 12, 2005; Revised Date: July 18, 2006; Accepted Date: July 21, 2006

Journal of Counseling Psychology 53(4):p 498-510, October 2006.

Data from a sample of university students (N = 349) were used to test a model in which emotional dysregulation (a composite of emotional reactivity and splitting) was expected to account for the effect of perfectionism on general psychological distress. Significant positive effects were observed between maladaptive perfectionism and distress, whereas significant inverse effects were found for adaptive perfectionism. Structural equations analyses revealed support for a possibly mediational role of emotional dysregulation. Future research suggestions as well as counseling recommendations are proposed that target emotional regulatory features of the client with perfectionistic tendencies.