(PS9-A4) Self-critical Perfectionism and Depressive and Anxious Symptoms over Two Years: Moderated Mediation Models of Anxiety Sensitivity and Experiential Avoidance

Self-critical (SC) perfectionism has been identified as a cognitive-personality vulnerability factor for psychopathology. Studies have found that anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the fear of the behaviors and physical sensations associated with the experience of anxiety) and experiential avoidance (i.e., an unwillingness to remain in contact with aversive private experiences) explain the relation between SC perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms. Although existing research has largely studied these variables in isolation, theory and research suggest that anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance may work together to heighten vulnerability for experiencing negative outcomes in individuals with higher SC perfectionism. This study used a moderated mediation framework to examine the dynamic and interactive role of both anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance in explaining the prospective relation between SC perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over two years. At Time 1, 297 community adults completed self-report questionnaires measuring SC perfectionism, neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, and depressive and anxious symptoms. Participants completed anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance measures again at Time 2 (one year after baseline) and depressive and anxious symptom measures again at Time 3 (two years after baseline). Moderated mediation analyses showed that, for those with higher experiential avoidance, SC perfectionism was indirectly related to Time 3 depressive and anxious symptoms through Time 2 anxiety sensitivity, controlling for baseline depressive and anxious symptoms and anxiety sensitivity. This indirect effect was not significant for those reporting lower and average levels of experiential avoidance. On the other hand, for those with average and higher anxiety sensitivity, SC perfectionism was indirectly associated with Time 3 depressive and anxious symptoms through Time 2 experiential avoidance, controlling for baseline depressive and anxious symptoms and experiential avoidance. This indirect effect was not significant for those with lower anxiety sensitivity. The moderated mediation effects remained significant controlling for neuroticism. These results highlight that the role of anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance may be more complex than linear main effects and instead demonstrate dynamic and interactive relations with distress outcomes. These findings also suggest that reducing anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance may be important treatment targets for alleviating depressive and anxious symptoms for SC perfectionistic individuals over time.