Serpell, Lucy; (2004) Development of the Persistence, Perseverance and Perfectionism Questionnaire (PPPQ): A measure of psychological correlates of eating pathology. Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).

Text Development_of_the_Persistence.pdf Download (2MB)

Abstract

Introduction: This study involves the development of a measure of constructs hypothesised to be of importance in eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa. The constructs to be measured are persistence, perseverance and perfectionism. Method: Initial development involved defining the three constructs on the basis of previous literature. Next, possible items were developed for each of the constructs. These items were rated by a random sample of individuals according to how well they fitted each of the constructs. Items were retained if they were highly rated for one construct but for neither of the other two by the majority of respondents. The resulting measure, the Persistence, Perseverance and Perfectionism Questionnaire (PPPQ), was administered to 325 non-clinical participants for the purposes of factor analysis. Alongside the measure, participants completed measures of psychological functioning (the Brief Symptom Inventory) and eating disorder symptoms (the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire form). Test retest reliability was established by administering the PPPQ twice, around 14 days apart. Data analysis: The main analysis consisted of factor analysis of the PPPQ items in order to establish the factor structure of the measure. Varimax rotation was used to determine factor loadings. Regression analyses were carried out to establish the validity of the measure, in particular, its relationship to measures of psychopathology including eating attitudes and behaviours. Results: Factor analysis resulted in a 22-item questionnaire, consisting of three subscales. These corresponded well to the theoretical constructs of persistence, perseverance and perfectionism. Regression analyses showed that each subscale had specific relationships to a range of forms of psychopathology. In particular, persistence appeared to be predict positive mental health, whilst perseverance was related to negative mental health outcomes (restrictive pathology). Perfectionism was also associated with psychopathology, but more weakly than is perseverance. Discussion: The new questionnaire, the PPPQ, appears to be psychometrically valid and theoretically meaningful. However, both the psychometric structure and the relationships between the measure and psychopathology should be explored in further research with clinical populations.

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item