Cognitive Therapy and Research, Vol. 30, No. 3, June 2007 ( C 2006) DOI: 10.1007/s10608-006-9000-6
The Role of Experiential Avoidance in the Relationship Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Worry1
Amanda W. Santanello2,3 and Frank L. Gardner2,4 Published online: 10 March 2006
This study examined the role of experiential avoidance in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and worry. The hypothesis was that experiential avoidance would mediate the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and worry. A to- tal of 125 undergraduate participants completed measures assessing perfectionism, experiential avoidance, worry, depression, and social anxiety. A series of regression analyses showed that maladaptive perfectionism and experiential avoidance were sig- nificantly associated with worry and that experiential avoidance was a partial mediator in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and worry. Partial correlations revealed significant relationships between experiential avoidance and worry and be- tween one aspect of maladaptive perfectionism and worry independent of depression and social anxiety. Results suggest that experiential avoidance may be an important variable contributing to the occurrence of worry within the context of maladaptive perfectionism.
KEY WORDS: experiential avoidance; perfectionism; worry; mediation.
The role of experiential avoidance in various forms of psychopathology has been the subject of recent behavioral and clinical discussion (Hayes et al., 2004; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996). Experiential avoidance “is the phenomenon that occurs when a person is unwill- ing to remain in contact with particular private experiences (e.g., bodily sensa- tions, emotions, thoughts, memories, behavioral predispositions) and takes steps to alter the form or frequency of these events and the contexts that occasion them” (Hayes et al., 1996, p. 1154). In other words, experiential avoidance in- volves attempts to avoid uncomfortable internal experiences by trying to suppress or control these unpleasant private events and/or avoid the situations that produce them.
1This research was part of the first author’s dissertation. 2Department of Psychology, La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 3Present address: 52 Meriam Ct., Owings Mills, Maryland, 21117. 4Correspondence should be directed to Frank L. Gardner, Department of Psychology, La Salle Univer- sity, 1900 West Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19141; e-mail: [email protected].
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