A short prospective study on multidimensional perfectionism and coping in adolescents

Authors

Diana Vois¹*, Lavinia Damian-Ilea¹, Oana Negru-Subtirica¹

¹ Self and Identity Development Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Abstract

Despite the growing literature addressing multidimensional perfectionism and coping, longitudinal studies on adolescents are scarce and have focused primarily on self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism, leaving other-oriented perfectionism underexamined. Thus, investigating the longitudinal relation between multidimensional perfectionism and coping strategies was the primary aim of this study. Two-wave self-report data were collected from 227 adolescents (15-18 years old) over a one-month period. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that all three of perfectionism’s dimensions were linked to distinct coping profiles, with self-oriented perfectionism linked to engagement-oriented strategies, and the remaining two dimensions linked to emotion-focused and disengagement-oriented strategies. Regression analyses further demonstrated that other-oriented perfectionism uniquely predicted increases in behavioral disengagement over time, whereas no short-term changes in coping strategies were observed for the other two dimensions. The present findings underline the importance of examining all three dimensions of perfectionism and adopting a developmental perspective to better understand how personality characteristics shape stress regulation during adolescence.

Keywords: perfectionism, coping strategies, adolescence, developmental

PAGES:19-34

doi:10.24193/cbb.2026.30.02

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