Multilevel analysis of relationship between parental popularity, maladaptive schemas and perfectionism in gifted adolescents

The paramount role of parent-child relationships has always been recognized in the emergence of personality traits and the formation of early maladaptive schemas. Early maladaptive schemas and perfectionism can raise in a family atmosphere, but the researches had less attention on the role of family in gifted students’ perfectionism.

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between popularity of parents and the creation of early maladaptive schemas with the perfectionism of gifted adolescents based on multilevel analysis.

The research is a multilevel correlational study. The statistical population of the present study included girl gifted students of Tehran’s gifted high schools at individual level, and their parents at the environmental level. In this study, for each higher level variable (father or mother), three individual level variables (student) were considered. Plus, 100 people (50 fathers and 50 mothers) were chosen as the higher level sample, and 300 students were selected as the individual level sample. The sample were asked to fill 3 sets of questionnaires, popularity of parents’ questionnaire (Afrooz et al., 2013), Perfectionism Scale (Heel et al, 2010) and schema inventory for children (Rijekboer & De Boo, 2010).

Implementing two-level analysis, the positive effect (.001) of rejection and exaggerated expectations on negative perfectionism in student level variables were identified. In family level variables, the effect of father popularity on negative perfectionism was significant (.05). Also, the reliability value of the model (.70) confirms the proper fitting of the first and second models.

These findings generally suggested that student and family level variables are associated with predicting negative perfectionism and the role of environmental variables such as family, school, culture and society in the perfectionism of gifted adolescents should be surveyed to reduce the prevalence of this issue.