Perfectionism, emotion regulation and their relationship to negative affect in patients with social phobia

Research on the perfectionism and emotion regulation strategies in anxiety disorders has gained increased attention. These have an important implication for formulation of therapies.

We examined perfectionism, emotion regulation were examined in 30 patients with social phobia (SP) and 30 community participants.

A cross-sectional design using a clinical and a community control sample was adopted in this exploratory study.

Participants were assessed on The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Frost's-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Ruminative Response Scale of the response style questionnaire, cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Beck's Depression Inventory.

Data was analyzed using independents samples t-test and Pearson's Product moment correlations and step-wise linear regression.

Individuals with SP had higher perfectionism (mean = 100.30, SD = ±17.73, t = 7.29, P < 0.001), rumination (mean = 61.47, SD = ±11.96, t = 6.71, P < 0.001) and lower levels of positive reappraisal (mean = 11.53, SD = ±3.85, t = 4.90, P < 0.001). Perfectionism was correlated with social anxiety (r = 0.44, P < 0.05) and rumination (r = 0.43, P < 0.05), but not with depression. Rumination was positively correlated with both social anxiety (r = 0.513, P < 0.01) and depression (r = 0.485, P < 0.01). Positive reappraisal was negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.396, P < 0.05) and anxiety (r = -0.335, P < 0.05). Acceptance was found to be significantly correlated only to the reflective pondering subscale of rumination. Parental criticism was a significant predictor of social anxiety (F = 11.11, P < 0.01) and brooding predicted depression (F = 10.49, P < 0.01).

This study highlights the role of perfectionism as a maintaining factor in SP and the importance of adaptive forms of emotion regulation that need to be addressed in psychological interventions.