Elevated Self-Standards and Emotional Distress During Adolescence: Emotional Specificity and Gender Differences

This study examined the relation between self-standards and particular forms of emotional distress during adolescence. One hundred fifteen high school subjects completed the Selves Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Actual-ideal discrepancies and self-oriented perfectionism were found to be associated specifically with depressive symptoms after controlling for anxious symptoms, whereas actual-ought discrepancies were associated specifically with anxious symptoms after controlling for depressive symptoms. In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with general emotional distress. Compared with boys, girls reported more depressive, but not anxious, symptoms. Importantly, actual-ideal discrepancies partially mediated gender differences in depressive symptoms.