The effects of maladaptive parenting and insecure attachment on the development of perfectionism in children and adolescents : a 2-year longitudinal mediation analysis
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Psychology, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Ko, Ariel Hoi Ching
issued: 2025-04-22T21:56:37Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Perfectionism is a multidimensional and multifaceted personality construct requiring the self to be perfect or appear to be perfect. It is a personality vulnerability factor to a host of clinical and non-clinical problems. However, to date, not much is known about how perfectionism develops. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) proposes a developmental framework for perfectionism. It posits that perfectionism arises from an asynchrony between the parent and the child. Asynchrony happens when a parent’s responsiveness and nurturance do not align with a child’s needs, and this can occur when caregivers engage in maladaptive parenting styles. Repeated experiences of asynchrony are theorized to give rise to attachment insecurities and foster perfectionism. The PSDM has received some empirical support, but most studies were conducted on adults and used a cross-sectional design. To address these research gaps, the current study employs a longitudinal design over a period of 2 years to investigate how perfectionism develops in children and adolescents aged 8 to 15 years. The general goal of the study is to determine whether maladaptive parenting styles and insecure attachment are developmental antecedents of perfectionism. Specifically, the primary aim of the study is to test a specific developmental pathway outlined by the PSDM, which posits that insecure attachment mediates the relationship between maladaptive parenting and perfectionism. To achieve this, 107 parent-child dyads were recruited and asked to complete self-reported measures of parenting, attachment, and perfectionism at three time points, each spaced approximately one year apart. Study findings showed that maladaptive parenting and insecure attachment were associated with perfectionism concurrently and longitudinally. More importantly, parental psychological control directly predicted perfectionism, and uninvolved parenting indirectly contributed to perfectionism through insecure attachment, t…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/90709
note: THE EFFECTS OF MALADAPTIVE PARENTING AND INSECURE ATTACHMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERFECTIONISM IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A 2-YEAR LONGITUDINAL MEDIATION ANALYSIS by ARIEL HOI CHING KO B.A., University of British Columbia, 2017 M.A., University of British Columbia, 2019 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2025 © Ariel Hoi Ching Ko, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: The Effects of Maladaptive Parenting and Insecure Attachment on the Development of Perfectionism in Children and Adolescents: A 2-Year Longitudinal Mediation Analysis submitted by Ariel Hoi Ching Ko in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Examining Committee: Paul L. Hewitt, Professor, Psychology, UBC Supervisor David Kealy, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Susan Birch, Associate Professor, Psychology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Frances Chen, Professor, Psychology, UBC University Examiner Daniel Cox, Professor, Counselling Psychology, UBC University Examiner Lavinia Damian, Professor, Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University External Examiner iii Abstract Perfectionism is a multidimensional and multifaceted personality construct requiring the self to be perfect or appear to be perfect. It is a personality vulnerability factor to a host of clinical and non-clinical problems. However, to date, not much is known about how perfectionism develops. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) proposes a developmental framework for perfectionism. It posits that perfectionism arises from an asynchrony between the parent and the child. Asynchrony happens when a parent’s responsiveness and nurtu…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0448487
language: eng
degree discipline: Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Hewitt, Paul L. (Paul Louis)
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90709