Coping styles and self-esteem as mediators of the perfectionism-depression relationship among Chinese undergraduates

We examined the roles of negative coping, positive coping, and self-esteem as mediators of the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression with a sample of 412 Chinese undergraduates. Participants completed measures of perfectionism and it was found that negative coping and positive coping both partially mediated the association between maladaptive perfectionism and depression. The final model also revealed that positive coping partially mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and self-esteem. Implications for counseling interventions and future research are discussed.