Assessing changes to adolescent health-promoting behaviors following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-methods exploration of the role of within-person combinations of trait perfectionism

The current work provides a multi-methods exploration of how within-person subtypes of self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) were related to shifts in health-promoting behaviors among adolescents following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study One tested the 2 × 2 and tripartite models of perfectionism through a quantitative test of how such subtypes predicted changes in health behaviors pre-pandemic to intra-pandemic among 202 adolescents (M = 17.86, SD = 1.421). Results indicated that the combination of high SOP/high SPP was linked to the most maladaptive changes to health-promoting behaviors, supporting the tripartite model. Study Two aimed to contextualize these findings by analyzing semi-structured interviews with 31 adolescent self-identified perfectionists (M = 15.97, SD = 1.991) during the initial lockdown mandate. Results indicated that participants experienced a welcome break and found more time to engage in health-promoting behaviors. However, those high in SOP – regardless of their level of SPP – had more difficulty relaxing due to a resistance to relenting their perfectionistic standards. Altogether, these findings support the exacerbating role of SOP when combined with SPP posited by the tripartite model of perfectionism with respect to adolescents' health-promoting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.