Perfectionism and neuroticism: A longitudinal study of specific vulnerability and diathesis-stress models

Perfectionism may act as a vulnerability factor for distress in response to negative life events. An important indication of the value of lower order vulnerability factors in psychological research is whether they provide incremental predictive validity beyond higher order traits such as neuroticism. Accordingly, the present longitudinal study evaluated perfectionism vulnerability models and compared these predictive models with a neuroticism diathesis-stress model in a group of first year medical students. Several dimensions of perfectionism (socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over mistakes and doubts about actions) interacted with negative life events to predict future distress symptoms but none of the interactions between perfectionism and life events provided incremental predictive validity in comparison to a neuroticism diathesis-stress model. No support was obtained for a perfectionism specific vulnerability hypothesis. The results of this study affirm the importance of incorporating measures of higher-order psychological vulnerabilities in studies seeking to demonstrate the predictive value of lower-order vulnerabilities.