Perfectionism and other related trait measures as predictors of mortality in diabetic older adults: a six-and-a-half-year longitudinal study.

After baseline assessment of health and perfectionism trait measures, 385 diabetic older adults were followed for six-and-a-half years. We hypothesized that the potential for increased stress associated with perfectionism leads to an increased risk of impending mortality for diabetics. Contrary to our hypothesis, mortality risk was 29 percent lower for high scorers on the perfectionism (self-oriented) dimension, compared to low scorers. In contrast, Cox regression analysis showed that high scores on measures of dysfunctional perfectionistic attitudes and dysfunctional dependency, which in many respects parallel the perfectionism (self-oriented) measure, were associated with an increased risk of mortality. Implications of findings are discussed.