Perfectionism Indirect Correlation With Hours of Sleep at Night - Research Paper Example

?Perfectionism correlates indirectly with hours of sleep at night Perfectionism is a natural tendency of students whose intellectual capacity cannot psycho-emotionally tolerate to garner a low score in exam, quizzes and in other related tests. Most of them toil hard at night to completely understand their subjects and lessons at schools to better equip them in responding to test and academic measures. Azededo, Bos, Soares, Marquez, Pereira, Maia, Gomes and Macedo (2010) defined this sleeping disorder as the “difficulty in falling asleep and waking up several times during the night (p. 476).” Perfectionism is considered harmful because it can cause physiological effects when internal chemical and biological processes of the human body and mind could only transpire when the body is at a complete rest or is fully asleep (Azededo et al., 2010; Hamilton, Stevens, & Kitzman, 2007). Those with sleeping disorder due to self-imposed demand to gain high and rigid standard in their respective performances, or due to dissatisfaction from what has been attained thus far, or they are shaken at the thought of failing (Azededo et al., 2010). Albeit the distinction of normal and neurotic perfection forms, the unidimensional conceptualization of perfectionism dictates that this behaviour is associated to psychopathologyical dysfunction (Azededo et al., 2010) thus, affecting the intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions (Azededo et al., 2010) of human beings. Azededo et al (2010) categorically distinguished perfectionism as self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented. The first refers to self-imposed standard; the second refers to the standard set by society or from academe; and the third, may refer to expectation on achievement based on unrealistic standards (p. 477). In this study, the researcher hypothesized that the higher the EDI perfectionism score in a college student, the less they sleep. Researcher have chosen random student-respondents from undergraduate classes to respond to survey questionnaires exacted with free, prior, and informed consent in consonance to required standard of a qualitative research. The generated written consents and the result of the study are stored in safe database, including their self-report assessments. This packet of assessment included Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Student Learning Style Scales, the Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons questionnaire, the Coping Styles Inventory, the Social Readjustment Scale, and the Brief Symptom Index. Researcher opted to have 10-25 participants from each testing session and their responses were recorded or documented in SPSS dataset. Researcher correlates ‘perfectionism’ with the assessed Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) score of respondents. Such EDI-3 covered 91 items organized onto 12 non-overlapping scales of which is inclusive of three (3) eating-disorder-specific scales; nine (9) general psychological scales; and six (6) composite scales on eating-disorder specific (i.e., Eating Disorder Risk); and five that are general integrative psychological constructs that delved on ineffectiveness, interpersonal problems, affective problems, overcontrol, and general psychological maladjustment (Galambos, Howard, & Maggs, 2010). The EDI-3 uses a 0-4 point scoring system that known as tool for improving reliability in some scales and proving wider range of scores. Azededo et al. (2010) explicated, from the vantage of their research conducted that good sleepers had never or are rarely DIS/DMS while those with insomnia had DIS/DMS that are often or very often happening although there were subjects that had remission but have complained of sleeping disorders. Using cognitive models of sleeplessness, the worriers and ruminators can easily react to stressors as they are automatically aroused direly on concerns that they need to deal immediately for perfection (Azededo et al., 2010). Their emotive level is increased and fear of failure motivated them to act to particularly attain what is perceived right. They however anticipated these stress and deemed that sleeping disturbance is essential to complete something. This could be their coping mechanism to evade failures albeit psychosomatic effects, headaches, and tensions. Thus, medical experts looked at how they suffer poor physical health and how they are emotionally-driven to cope on the demand to resolve academic concerns and requirements, and may tend to self-blame if they are unable to make up constructive responses to demands. Thus, this may result to self-blame as helplessness and hopelessness engulf them (Azendedo et al., 2010). Researcher concluded that they can become insomniac. Hence, perfectionism indeed results to sleeplessness or of poor quality of sleep and psychological distress (Jansson & Unton, 2006). Rice and Arsdale (2010) on the other hand argued that students’ sleeplessness could be caised or aggravated by their lifestyles and behaviours. In a research, Rice et al (2010) perfectionism, which is either adaptive, maladaptive and non-perfectionist attitude, could be caused by perceiving more stress and thus they cope this by drinking alcohol. Rice et al (2010) concluded that maladaptive perfectionist had higher level of stress and higher alcohol intake than those adaptive perfectionists. The latter adhere to some self-imposed or socially-driven standard of behaviours thus, inhibiting them to have some drinking spree. They however, observed that even those non-perfectionists have attained some level of stress and that those who do not engaged much on alcoholism as coping mechanism have higher stress levels (Rice et al, 2010; Maia, Soares, Pereira, Marques, Bos, Gomes, Valente, Azevedo, & Macedo, 2011). They likewise observed that women are more vulnerable than men to high stress levels and hence, has more tendencies for alcoholism. This has serious clinical implications. Researcher opined that alcohol was perceived by these respondents that tension is reduced by alcohol but the increased tendency for alcoholism to cope with stress is alarming especially for students in the academe (Rice et al, 2010). This will have serious implications too their performance in classes and to their behaviours as alcohol has been medically viewed as one of the many hazards of health. Too liberal alcohol intake can damage the liver and can negatively influence on their behaviours toward their peers and family (Rice et al, 2010). Alcohol is addictive too and thus, can impose a financial burden to person and to family aside from health risks (Rice et al, 2010). The consequences of alcoholism as de-stressors to those who got sleeping disorders and tension in their sustained quest for perfection can cause emotional negativity, constraints of consciousness, extraversion, neuroticism, impulsivity, liberality to experience post-alcohol effects, disinhibition, contradictions, and more problems (Rice et al, 2010). The study further bared that instead of attaining perfection, the student engaged in alcoholism, got “decreased predictive accuracy due to loss of trait-specific but criterion-valid variance (p. 440).” This is a critical consequence of perfectionism because it resulted to alcoholism and null results across personalities involved. Alcohol-related problems disturbed the family and community the most since students started missing classes, garnering poor grades, passed out via alcohol, get headaches, caused accidents because they drive albeit intoxication (Rice et al, 2010). There is however some degree of limitations in this study as some students associated their drinking spree to social motives instead of correlating this as their drive to cope with stressful desire for perfectionism. Moreover, Forquer, Camden,Gabriau, and Johnson (2008) evaluated that the degree of absolute change, relative stability and state dependence of trait perfectionism in sleep disturbances using Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale bared that absolute changes in self-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism is positive. Forquer et al ( 2008) pointed that “prior and concurrent sleep disturbances posit a significant amount of variance in perfectionism (p. 563).” They contended that controlling the effects of sleep measures, prior self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism are relevant predictors of subsequent self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism (Forquer et al., 2008). But albeit the significant changes of perfectionism mean scores over the follow-up, the correlation showed that respondents maintained stability on sustaining their relative levels of perfectionism although it’s also acknowledged in the analyses that the concurrent difficulties in commencing with socially-prescribed perfectionism is another dimension of the characteristic of those inclined for perfectionism. Considering all these, it’s affirmed that the desire to attained higher grades and to be perfect in academic endeavours can cause sleeplessness and tension. Those who are coping with these consequences may assume some behaviour that is maybe acceptable or not socially acceptable behaviours e.g. becoming alcoholic persons. Thus, it’s inferred that there is indeed correlation with perfectionism and of becoming an insomniac. The consequences of the coping strategies used by some individuals may cause some harm to their biological and psychological being but these can be remedied if respondents will adopt some normative process to keep them safe and free from harm. Clinical and psychologists may have their recommendations and its applications will depend on the individuals’ capacity and inclination to maintain good health and social behaviour while maintaining good academic status. Schools and universities must adopt some measures to cope those who have gone wayward and have adopted alcoholic behaviours to keep their sanity and health at a normal level. Support services can be done via psychological counselling at schools and upholding value system to keep those intellectual or intelligent students adopt healthy behaviours on wellness while meeting academic standards and endeavouring to be at the top of their respective classes. References Azededo, M.H., Bos, S.C., Soares, M.J., Marquez, M., Pereira, A.T., Maia, B., Gomes, A.A.., and Macedo, A. (2010). Longitudinal study on perfectionism and sleep disturbances. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 11 (2): 476-485. Rice, K., Amy C. Van Arsdale (2010). Perfectionism, Perceived Stress, Drinking to Cope, and Alcohol-Related Problems Among College Students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 57, No. 4, 439 – 450. Jansson-Frojmark M., Steven J. Linton (2007). Is perfectionism related to pre-existing and future insomia? A prospective study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 46, 119-124. Maia, BR., Maria J. Soares, Ana T. Pereira, Mariana Marques, Sandra C. Bos, Ana Gomes, Jose Valente, Maria H. Azevedo, & Antonio Macedo (2011). Affective state dependence and relative trait stability of perfectionism in sleep disturbances Hamilton, NA., Stevens, N., and Kitzman, H. (2007). Sleep and psychological well-being. ocial Indicators Research (2007) 82: 147–163 Forquer, L., Adrian E. Camden, Krista M. Gabriau, C. Merle Johnson (2008). Sleep Patterns of College Students at a Public University. Journal of American College Health, 2008, vol. 56, No. 5. Galambos, N.L., Andrea L. Howard, and Jennifer L. Maggs (2010). Rise and Fall of Sleep Quantity and Quality With Student Experiences Across the First Year of University. Journal Research on Adolescence, 21 (2), 342-349. Jansson, M., & Unton, S. J. (2006). The role of anxiety and depression in the development of insomnia: Cross-sectional and prospective analyses. Psychology and Heath, 21, 383-397 Read More