Osamu Kobori

The Multidimensional Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory–English (MPCI–E): Reliability, Validity, and Relationships With Positive and Negative Affect

The Multidimensional Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (MPCI; Kobori & Tanno, 2004) is a promising new instrument developed in Japan to assess perfectionism cognitions regarding personal standards, pursuit of perfection, and concern over mistakes. In this study, we examined reliability and validity of the English version of the MPCI, the MPCI–E (Kobori, 2006), in a sample of 371 native English speakers. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the MPCI–Es 3-factorial oblique structure. Moreover, correlations with measures of dispositional perfectionism and past-week positive and negative affect provided initial evidence of the MPCI–Es convergent and differential validity. Finally, hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that the MPCI–E showed incremental validity in explaining variance in positive and negative affect above variance explained by dispositional perfectionism. Overall, the findings provide initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the MPCI–E as a multidimensional measure of perfectionism cognitions that has the potential to further the understanding of positive and negative cognitions in perfectionism.

Traits and cognitions of perfectionism and their relation with coping style, effort, achievement, and performance anxiety in Japanese musicians

Research has shown that 2 major facets of perfectionism can be differentiated: perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. In order to investigate how these different facets of perfectionism are related to coping, effort, achievement, and performance anxiety in musicians, we asked 275 professional and amateur Japanese musicians to complete measures of perfectionism traits, perfectionism cognitions, coping style, effort, achievement, and performance anxiety. While both facets of perfectionism showed a similar pattern of correlation with coping measures, they were differently associated with effort, achievement, and performance anxiety. In addition, results of hierarchical regression analysis showed the incremental validity of perfectionism cognitions in explaining variance in performance anxiety above the variance explained by other variables, such as trait perfectionism. These findings demonstrate that perfectionism in musicians has both positive and negative elements.

Self-Oriented Perfectionism and its Relationship to Positive and Negative Affect: The Mediation of Positive and Negative Perfectionism Cognitions

Past research indicates that Self-Oriented Perfectionism (SOP: P. L. Hewitt & G. L. Flett, 1991) has been linked to psychopathology but can have both positive and negative elements. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether the relationship of SOP to positive and negative affect would be mediated by the presence of specific cognitions regarding “Personal Standards (PS),” and “Concern over Mistakes (CM)” as well as goal motivations. Two mediations involved in SOP were hypothesized: (1) in the presence of approach goals, the cognition of PS emerges from activated SOP and leads to positive affect; and (2) in the presence of avoidant goals, the cognition of CM emerges from activated SOP and leads to negative affect. In Study 1, 358 college students completed the research questionnaire, and structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation model. In Study 2, 60 participants, 30 rated high and 30 rated low in SOP, were presented with either an approach or an avoidant goal for an experimental task, and asked to rate their perfectionism cognitions and affects. The findings provided partial support for the hypotheses.

Do perfectionists raise their standards after success? An experimental examination of the revaluation of standard setting in perfectionism

Setting high standards is one of the core aspects of perfectionism. Shafran, Cooper, and Fairburn (2002) proposed that individuals with self-imposed perfectionism raise their standards after they successfully meet them. This study examines whether individuals with self-imposed perfectionism raise their goal after the feedback of success. Fifty-three college students, whose self-oriented perfectionism (SOP; Hewitt & Flett, 1991) was assessed, performed a task with a goal, and received feedback of success. Following the feedback, they were asked to choose (a) the same goal or (b) a more difficult goal for the next task. The logistic regression analysis revealed that the greater the SOP, the more likely the participants were to choose the difficult goal. The theoretical and clinical implications for the standard setting of perfectionism were discussed.

Examining Mutual Suppression Effects in the Assessment of Perfectionism Cognitions Evidence Supporting Multidimensional Assessment

Perfectionism cognitions capture automatic perfectionistic thoughts and have explained variance in psychological adjustment and maladjustment beyond trait perfectionism. The aim of the present research was to investigate whether a multidimensional assessment of perfectionism cognitions has advantages over a unidimensional assessment. To this aim, we examined in a sample of 324 university students how the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI) and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (MPCI) explained variance in positive affect, negative affect, and depressive symptoms when factor or subscale scores were used as predictors compared to total scores. Results showed that a multidimensional assessment (PCI factor scores, MPCI subscale scores) explained more variance than a unidimensional assessment (PCI and MPCI total scores) because, when the different dimensions were entered simultaneously as predictors, perfectionistic strivings cognitions and perfectionistic concerns cognitions acted as mutual suppressors thereby increasing each others’ predictive validity. With this, the present findings provide evidence that—regardless of whether the PCI or the MPCI is used—a multidimensional assessment of perfectionism cognitions has advantages over a unidimensional assessment in explaining variance in psychological adjustment and maladjustment.

A preliminary study of individual cognitive behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder in Japanese clinical settings: a single-arm, uncontrolled trial

BackgroundCognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is regarded as an effective treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD) in Europe and North America. Individual CBT might be acceptable and effective for patients with SAD even in non-Western cultures; therefore, we conducted a feasibility study of individual CBT for SAD in Japanese clinical settings. We also examined the baseline predictors of outcomes associated with receiving CBT.MethodsThis single-arm trial employed a 14-week individual CBT intervention. The primary outcome was the self-rated Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, with secondary measurements of other social anxiety and depressive severity. Assessments were conducted at baseline, after a waiting period before CBT, during CBT, and after CBT.ResultsOf the 19 subjects screened, 15 were eligible for the study and completed the outcome measures at all assessment points. Receiving CBT led to significant improvements in primary and secondary SAD severity (p s < .001). The mean total score on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale improved from 91.8 to 51.7 (before CBT to after CBT), and the within-group effect size at the end-point assessment was large (Cohen’s d = 1.71). After CBT, 73% of participants were judged to be treatment responders, and 40% met the criteria for remission. We found no significant baseline predictors of those outcomes.ConclusionDespite several limitations, our treatment—which comprises a 14-week, individual CBT program—seems feasible and may achieve favorable treatment outcomes for SAD in Japanese clinical settings. Further controlled trials are required in order to address the limitations of this study.Trial registrationUMIN-CTR UMIN000005897

Unwanted Sexual Experiences and Cognitive Appraisals That Evoke Mental Contamination

BACKGROUND Mental contamination is a psychological sense of contamination that involves an internal, emotional feeling of dirtiness that may be evoked by unwanted thoughts and images, such as sexual assaults. AIMS This study aimed to investigate which types of unwanted sexual experiences evoke the strongest mental contamination, and to test the hypothesis that cognitive appraisals of an unwanted sexual experience predict indices of mental contamination (i.e. feeling of dirtiness, urge to wash, internal negative emotions, and external negative emotions). METHOD 148 female participants were asked to recall their most distressing unwanted sexual experiences. Indices of mental contamination and cognitive appraisals of the experience were then assessed. RESULTS Our findings indicated that individuals recalling experiences related to rape felt more intense feelings of dirtiness than individuals recalling other types of unwanted sexual experience, such as verbal sexual assault, visual sexual assault, and forcible touching/frottage. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that a cognitive appraisal of perceived violation predicted all of the indices of mental contamination after controlling anxiety, depression, and fear of contact contamination. CONCLUSIONS The present study demonstrated that an individual is at greatest risk of mental contamination if she has experienced rape/attempted rape, and if she makes a cognitive appraisal of violation regarding the incident.

Development and validation of the Japanese version of the obsessive-compulsive inventory

BackgroundThe Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) was designed to evaluate the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical samples. The aim of the study was to develop a Japanese version of this scale (OCI-J) and validate it in both non-clinical and clinical Japanese samples.FindingsIn Study 1, the OCI-J, the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and measures of anxiety and depression were administered to 150 undergraduate students (non-clinical sample) in order to investigate the internal consistency and convergent validity of the OCI-J. Furthermore, 118 non-clinical participants completed the OCI-J after a 2-week interval to determine the test-retest reliability. In Study 2, OCD participants (n = 35), anxiety control participants with panic disorder (n = 22), and healthy control participants (n = 37) completed the OCI-J in order to test its clinical discrimination ability.Correlational analysis indicated moderate to high correlations between the subscales and total scores of the OCI-J and MOCI. In addition, the OCI-J and its subscales demonstrated satisfactory test-retest reliabilities. Finally, the OCI-J showed good clinical discrimination for patients with OCD from healthy and anxiety controls.ConclusionsThe OCI-J is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring OCD symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical samples of Japanese.

Perfectionism and Self-conscious Emotions in British and Japanese Students: Predicting Pride and Embarrassment after Success and Failure

Regarding self–conscious emotions, studies have shown that different forms of perfectionism show different relationships with pride, shame, and embarrassment depending on success and failure. What is unknown is whether these relationships also show cultural variations. Therefore, we conducted a study investigating how self–oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism predicted pride and embarrassment after success and failure by comparing 363 British and 352 Japanese students. Students were asked to respond to a set of scenarios where they imagined achieving either perfect (success) or flawed (failure) results. In both British and Japanese students, self–oriented perfectionism positively predicted pride after success and embarrassment after failure, whereas socially prescribed perfectionism predicted embarrassment after success and failure. Moreover, in Japanese students, socially prescribed perfectionism positively predicted pride after success and self–oriented perfectionism negatively predicted pride after failure. The findings have implications for our understanding of perfectionism, indicating that the perfectionism–pride relationship not only varies between perfectionism dimensions but may also show cultural variations. Copyright

Strategy for treating selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistant social anxiety disorder in the clinical setting: a randomised controlled trial protocol of cognitive behavioural therapy in combination with conventional treatment

Introduction Pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are consistently effective as first-line treatments for social anxiety disorders (SADs). Nevertheless, pharmacotherapy is often the first choice in clinical practice. In many countries, the first line of pharmacotherapy involves the administration of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Although a significant proportion of patients with SAD fail to respond to the initial SSRI administration, there is no standard approach to the management of SSRI-resistant SAD. This paper describes the study protocol for a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of CBT as a next-step strategy, concomitant with conventional treatment, for patients with SSRI-resistant SAD. Methods and analysis This Prospective Randomized Open Blinded End-point study is designed with two parallel groups, with dynamic allocation at the individual level. The interventions for the two groups are conventional treatment, alone, and CBT combined with conventional treatment, for 16 weeks. The primary end-point of SAD severity will be assessed by an independent assessor using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, and secondary end-points include severity of other social anxieties, depressive severity and functional impairment. All measures will be assessed at weeks 0 (baseline), 8 (halfway point) and 16 (postintervention) and the outcomes will be analysed based on the intent-to-treat. Statistical analyses are planned for the study design stage so that field materials can be appropriately designed. Ethics and dissemination This study will be conducted at the academic outpatient clinic of Chiba University Hospital. Ethics approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board of Chiba University Hospital. All participants will be required to provide written informed consent. The trial will be implemented and reported in accordance with the recommendations of CONSORT. Clinical Trial Registration Number UMIN000007552.