Perfectionism and Emotion Regulation Over Time: A Three‐Wave Study of Reciprocal Associations in Adolescents

OBJECTIVE: Empirical evidence suggests that perfectionism significantly influences emotion regulation; however, longitudinal data on this relation is still scarce. Hence, the current three-wave longitudinal study's purpose was to investigate the interplay between perfectionism and emotion regulation both at the group level, as well as at the within-person level, in an adolescent sample. METHOD: The total sample comprised 454 adolescents (69% girls) aged 10-18 years. Adolescents from five public schools completed a paper-pencil questionnaire over three consecutive school semesters. RESULTS: At the group-level, cross-lagged panel analyses showed a unidirectional longitudinal relation between perfectionistic strivings and reappraisal and bidirectional longitudinal relations between perfectionistic concerns and suppression. Conversely, at the within-person level, random-intercept cross-lagged panel analyses showed non-significant longitudinal relations. CONCLUSIONS: Insights into how perfectionism influences the development and maintenance of emotion regulation strategies in adolescence, as well as their bidirectional relation, are discussed.