(PS7-D89) Main and Interactive Effects of Perfectionism and High-effort Coping on Rumination Among High Achieving Youth of Color

BIPOC youth who achieve academically despite barriers associated with structural racism are generally considered resilient. Yet, their mental health needs may be overlooked. High achieving BIPOC students may exhibit perfectionism, a trait associated with setting high standards and is a risk factor for forms of distress, including rumination, a repetitive focus on one’s negative or unpleasant emotions.2 Among African American youth, rumination is more strongly related to race-related than non-race related stress.1 Yet, perfectionism may also represent a normative response to academic demands among high achieving BIPOC youth exposed to racial socialization messages indicating the need to persist to surmount racial oppression. John Henryism has been identified as a persistent, high-effort coping style common among African Americans adults to overcome disadvantage.1 High effort coping is sometimes found to be protective against negative outcomes, although this pattern is not consistent. This study examines whether endorsing John Henryism might mitigate the risks associated with perfectionism among high achieving BIPOC adolescents. This study will examine main and interactive effects of perfectionism, high-effort coping, and rumination.

Data collection is underway and preliminary analyses were conducted in a subsample of 62 high achieving African American adolescents (54% female, M age = 17). Participants completed self-report measures of  perfectionism, rumination and John Henryism. Preliminary results revealed that perfectionism was significantly and positively correlated with rumination (r=.41, p=< .001), while John Henryism was significantly and negatively correlated with rumination (r=-.29, p=.022). Additionally, perfectionism was not significantly correlated with John Henryism (r=.20, p > .05).

Preliminary results thus suggest that John Henryism may play a protective role against rumination among high achieving students of color. Final analyses will examine interactive effects of perfectionism and John Henryism on rumination in a more diverse sample of 169 high achieving youth of color.

References:
1 Hill & Hoggard. (2018). Development and Psychopathology, 30(5), 1817-1835. 2 Flett et al. (2011). Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 26(3), 159-176.