The Relationship of Perfectionism, Culture, Acculturative stress and Depression in University Students

Introduction: The stress generation hypothesis suggests that perfectionistic people generate stress from their perfectionistic tendencies, which raises their risk of developing depression. This model may apply to international students experiencing acculturative stress, defined as a stress reaction towards struggles associated with adapting to a different culture. Existing literature suggests perfectionism could cause acculturative stress due to the pressure of adapting to a different culture, which could in turn predict depression. Following the stress-generation hypothesis, the current study’s objective was to investigate whether acculturative stress mediates the link between perfectionism and depression. Methods: Dalhousie University students (N=119; international students or first-generation immigrants) were recruited via flyers or the SONA psychology participant pool. They completed an online survey, which measured perfectionism using the Big Three Perfectionism Scale, acculturative stress using the Riverside Acculturative Stress Inventory, and depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results: We did not find evidence for an indirect effect of rigid or self-critical perfectionism on depression through acculturative stress. However, we found a significant indirect effect of narcissistic perfectionism on depression through acculturative stress. After controlling for time in Canada as a covariate, no significant indirect effects were found for any Big Three Perfectionism dimension.Implications: To our knowledge, these findings are the first to find evidence for narcissistic perfectionism’s involvement in the stress-generation hypothesis in this population, as well as its potential association with depression through acculturative stress. Future studies should explore this understudied dimension and test its validity as a predictor of depression.