Perfectionism and mental health help-seeking : an extension of the social disconnection model

Abstract

While access to mental health services remains an issue in Canada, many individuals who do have access to mental health services do not seek help. The current study sought to examine the impact of perfectionism on mental health help-seeking behaviour using the framework of the Perfectionism-Social Disconnection Model (PSDM). In line with the PDSM, we hypothesized that social disconnection would mediate the relationship between higher levels of perfectionism and lower help-seeking. An online sample of 346 Ontario university students completed measures of perfectionism, social connectedness, perceived social support and psychological distress, in addition to assessments of both mental health help-seeking attitudes and actual help-seeking behaviour. Results revealed that neither socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) nor self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) showed zero-order associations with help-seeking attitudes, however SPP did predict more negative attitudes towards help-seeking via small indirect pathways through both social connectedness and perceived social support. Additionally, perfectionism was associated with higher rates of mental health help-seeking behaviour, mediated through increased psychological distress. Lastly, neither SPP nor SOP moderated the relationship between mental health help-seeking attitudes and help-seeking behaviour, though the moderation effect for SPP approached significance. Findings suggest a more complex relationship between perfectionism and help-seeking attitudes than previously documented in the literature and emphasize the importance of assessing actual mental health help-seeking behaviour in future research.