Research Proposal Name
GGZ2023 Research into Psychopathology
Health Sciences, course Mental Health
Maastricht University (UM)
Date: …
Title: The association between perfectionism and self-reported depressive symptoms, and the
role of coping techniques.
NL: Dit document is een voorbeeld van het research proposal van het blok GGZ2023 – Onderzoek
in de Pyschopathologie. Alle tussen- en eindverslagen worden gescand op plagiaat. Het letterlijk
overnemen van delen (objectives, research questions, measures, etc.) uit dit document zal
automatisch leiden tot een ‘fail’! Gebruik het dus alleen als voorbeeld voor je eigen werk.
EN: This document serves as an example of the research proposal of the course GGZ2023 –
Research in Psychopathology. Note that all assignments will be scanned for plagiarism. Copying
(parts of) this assignment will automatically result in a ‘fail’. I highly recommend you to only use
this document as an example.
This research proposal was graded a ‘pass’.
Background and introduction
Depressive disorders are one of the most prevalent psychological illnesses in the Netherlands.
Approximately 27 percent of those questioned in an extensive health questionnaire, conducted
by the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), reported having experienced depressed
symptoms for at least two weeks in their lives (Verweij & Houben-van Herten, 2013). There
is a considerable amount of literature on risk factors and determinants of depression. A
growing body of literature has evaluated the role of perfectionistic personality traits in the
onset of depressive symptoms. A recent study on this topic, conducted by Gnilka, McLaulin,
Ashby & Allen (2017), found that high levels of perfectionism were positively related to
burnout symptoms. Milanowski, Veselka & Atkinson (2016) have found that those high on
neurotic perfectionism tend to be highly inflexible in stressful situations. Perfectionism was
likewise identified as a predictive factor of depression (Hawley, Ho, Zuroff & Blatt, 2006).
Another frequently studied association is that between copingmechanisms and depression.
Depression was found to be related to frequent use of more avoidant coping mechanisms
(Dunkley et al., 2017). These authors also concluded that tendencies to exploit avoidant
coping mechanisms can partly explain why negative affect is more present in depressed
individuals. Ashby, Dickinson, Gnilka & Noble (2010) found that the relationship between
maladaptive perfectionism and depression is mediated by certain coping processes and coping
styles. Previous research has tended to focus on subjects without any affinity with
psychology. One question that can be asked here is whether the associations between
perfectionism, depression and coping are also present in a sample consisting of mental health
students.
GGZ2023 Research into Psychopathology
Health Sciences, course Mental Health
Maastricht University (UM)
Date: …
Title: The association between perfectionism and self-reported depressive symptoms, and the
role of coping techniques.
NL: Dit document is een voorbeeld van het research proposal van het blok GGZ2023 – Onderzoek
in de Pyschopathologie. Alle tussen- en eindverslagen worden gescand op plagiaat. Het letterlijk
overnemen van delen (objectives, research questions, measures, etc.) uit dit document zal
automatisch leiden tot een ‘fail’! Gebruik het dus alleen als voorbeeld voor je eigen werk.
EN: This document serves as an example of the research proposal of the course GGZ2023 –
Research in Psychopathology. Note that all assignments will be scanned for plagiarism. Copying
(parts of) this assignment will automatically result in a ‘fail’. I highly recommend you to only use
this document as an example.
This research proposal was graded a ‘pass’.
Background and introduction
Depressive disorders are one of the most prevalent psychological illnesses in the Netherlands.
Approximately 27 percent of those questioned in an extensive health questionnaire, conducted
by the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), reported having experienced depressed
symptoms for at least two weeks in their lives (Verweij & Houben-van Herten, 2013). There
is a considerable amount of literature on risk factors and determinants of depression. A
growing body of literature has evaluated the role of perfectionistic personality traits in the
onset of depressive symptoms. A recent study on this topic, conducted by Gnilka, McLaulin,
Ashby & Allen (2017), found that high levels of perfectionism were positively related to
burnout symptoms. Milanowski, Veselka & Atkinson (2016) have found that those high on
neurotic perfectionism tend to be highly inflexible in stressful situations. Perfectionism was
likewise identified as a predictive factor of depression (Hawley, Ho, Zuroff & Blatt, 2006).
Another frequently studied association is that between copingmechanisms and depression.
Depression was found to be related to frequent use of more avoidant coping mechanisms
(Dunkley et al., 2017). These authors also concluded that tendencies to exploit avoidant
coping mechanisms can partly explain why negative affect is more present in depressed
individuals. Ashby, Dickinson, Gnilka & Noble (2010) found that the relationship between
maladaptive perfectionism and depression is mediated by certain coping processes and coping
styles. Previous research has tended to focus on subjects without any affinity with
psychology. One question that can be asked here is whether the associations between
perfectionism, depression and coping are also present in a sample consisting of mental health
students.
