The role of perfectionism in postpartum depression and symptomatology.

The role of perfectionism as a correlate and as a predictor of perinatal depressive symptomatology and disorder was examined. Three-hundred and eighty-six pregnant women (mean age = 30.08 years; SD = 4.205; range = 19-44) completed the Portuguese versions of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II/BDI-II and three questions evaluating anxiety trait, life stress and social support perception. Diagnoses of depression were obtained using the Portuguese version of the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies/OPCRIT system. Women who were depressed in pregnancy (ICD-10/DSM-IV) were excluded from the analyses. Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism subcomponents (Conditional Acceptance and Others' High Standards) were significant correlates of depressive symptomatology/BDI-II in pregnancy. Others' High Standards was a significant predictor of postpartum depressive symptomatology/BDI-II, after controlling the other independent variables (depressive symptomatology and trait anxiety in pregnancy, life stress and social support perception in postpartum). None of the perfectionism subscales predicted postpartum depressive disorder (ICD-10/DSM-IV). Self-Oriented Perfectionism was an important correlate of depressive symptomatology in pregnancy and Others' High Standards and Conditional Acceptance were significant correlates of perinatal depressive symptomatology. Others' High Standards accounted for 0.8 % of the depressive symptomatology variance in postpartum after controlling the effect for other depressive symptomatology correlates. Perfectionism was not a risk factor for postpartum depressive disorder. Our findings improve the knowledge regarding the risk factors implicated in the development of postpartum depressive symptomatology/disorder, which is of utmost importance to develop adequate prevention and intervention strategies.

Affective state dependence and relative trait stability of perfectionism in sleep disturbances.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree of absolute change, relative stability and state dependence of trait perfectionism in sleep disturbances in a sample of university students. METHOD: Participants completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and two items concerning sleep difficulties. The mean age at T0 (baseline) was 19.59 years (SD = 1.61, range = 17-25) and 62.5% of the sample were female. RESULTS: Absolute changes in self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism were found. Relative stability was found for all perfectionism dimensions. Prior and concurrent sleep disturbances explained a significant amount of variance in perfectionism. Controlling for the effects of sleep measures, prior self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism were the only significant predictors of subsequent self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism, at T1 and T2. Difficulties falling asleep at T1 and socially-prescribed perfectionism at T0 were significant predictors of socially-prescribed perfectionism at T1. CONCLUSION: Despite significant changes in perfectionism mean scores over the follow-up, the correlation analyses demonstrated that participants remained quite stable in regard to their relative levels of perfectionism. As concurrent difficulties initiating sleep also predicted concurrent socially-prescribed perfectionism, this seems to be one dimension of perfectionism with trait-state characteristics.

Affective state dependence and relative trait stability of perfectionism in sleep disturbances / Dependência do estado afetivo e estabilidade relativa do traço do perfeccionismo nas perturbações de sono

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the degree of absolute change, relative stability and state dependence of trait perfectionism in sleep disturbances in a sample of university students. METHOD: Participants completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and two items concerning sleep difficulties. The mean age at T0 (baseline) was 19.59 years (SD = 1.61, range = 17-25) and 62.5 percent of the sample were female. RESULTS: Absolute changes in self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism were found. Relative stability was found for all perfectionism dimensions. Prior and concurrent sleep disturbances explained a significant amount of variance in perfectionism. Controlling for the effects of sleep measures, prior self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism were the only significant predictors of subsequent self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism, at T1 and T2. Difficulties falling asleep at T1 and socially-prescribed perfectionism at T0 were significant predictors of socially-prescribed perfectionism at T1. CONCLUSION: Despite significant changes in perfectionism mean scores over the follow-up, the correlation analyses demonstrated that participants remained quite stable in regard to their relative levels of perfectionism. As concurrent difficulties initiating sleep also predicted concurrent socially-prescribed perfectionism, this seems to be one dimension of perfectionism with trait-state characteristics.

OBJETIVOS: Avaliar o grau de mudança absoluta, de estabilidade relativa e dependência do estado do perfeccionismo nas perturbações de sono numa amostra de estudantes universitários. MÉTODO: Os sujeitos completaram a Escala Multidimensional do Perfeccionismo e dois itens sobre dificuldades em dormir. Os dados foram recolhidos em três momentos de avaliação, separados por um intervalo de um ano acadêmico. A idade média dos sujeitos no T0 era de 19,59 anos (DP = 1,61, variação = 17-25); 62,5 por cento eram mulheres. RESULTADOS: Foram encontradas ao longo do follow-up mudanças absolutas para o perfeccionismo auto-orientado e para o perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito. Foi encontrada estabilidade relativa para todas as dimensões do perfeccionismo. As dificuldades de sono prévias e concorrentes explicaram significativamente a variância do perfeccionismo. Controlando o efeito das dificuldades em dormir, o perfeccionismo auto-orientado e o perfeccionismo orientado para o outro prévios foram os únicos preditores significativos de perfeccionismo auto-orientado e perfeccionismo orientado para o outro (T1 e T2). As dificuldades em iniciar o sono no T1 e o perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito prévio (T0) revelaram-se preditores significativos de perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito no T1. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar das mudanças significativas nas pontuações médias de perfeccionismo ao longo do follow-up, as análises de correlação demonstraram que os participantes permaneceram relativamente estáveis nos seus níveis de perfeccionismo. Uma vez que as dificuldades em iniciar o sono concorrentes se revelaram um preditor significativo de perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito, esta é a dimensão do perfeccionismo que possui características traço-estado.

The postpartum depression screening scale: is it valid to screen for antenatal depression?

The purpose of the study was to analyse for the first time the validity of a slightly modified version of the Portuguese Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), to be used as a screening instrument for antenatal depression. Specifically, the aims were to analyse its psychometric properties, to determine PDSS cutoff points and associated conditional probabilities to screen for depression according to DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria and to compare its screening performance with that of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Five hundred and three pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy completed both questionnaires and were interviewed face-to-face with the Portuguese version of the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies. The Portuguese version of the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness was used to obtain DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnoses of depression, our gold standards for caseness. PDSS reliability and validity were very good and comparable to those obtained in the postpartum validation studies developed in Portugal and in other countries, showing satisfactory sensitivity and specificity combinations (≅80%). Compared with BDI-II, it has the advantage of being more specific for the motherhood context. Although developed for postpartum depression, PDSS is accurate to screen for antenatal depression, and it could be very useful for clinical and epidemiologic purposes.