Parasuicide: Cognitive Vulnerability, Future Directed Thinking and Perfectionism

This paper reports on 2 studies that examined the interaction of psychological risk factors in samples of parasuicides & matched hospital controls. Study 1 found that parasuicides differed from hospital controls on measures of depression, hopelessness, & negative cognitive styles. Study 2 examined the relationship between hopelessness, perfectionistic tendencies & future thinking in parasuicides & hospital controls. Parasuicides exhibited significantly more socially-prescribed perfectionist tendencies than controls. Implications for treatment are discussed. (17 refs)