Simon B. Sherry

• Ph.D.
• Professor at Dalhousie University

Extensive evidence suggests neuroticism is a higher-order personality trait that overlaps substantially with perfectionism dimensions and depressive symptoms. Such evidence raises an important question: Which perfectionism dimensions are vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? To address this, a meta-analysi...

Objective: Over 50 years of research implicates perfectionism in suicide. Yet the role of perfectionism in suicide needs clarification due to notable between-study inconsistencies in findings, underpowered studies, and uncertainty about whether perfectionism confers risk for suicide. We addressed this by meta-analyzing perfectionism's relationship...

Background: Over 50 years of theory and research implicates perfectionism in anxiety. However, it is unclear which (if any) perfectionism dimensions are risk factors for anxiety. Objective: To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis testing whether socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, self-oriented p...

Over 25 years of research suggests an important link between perfectionism and personality traits included in the five-factor model (FFM). However, inconsistent findings, underpowered studies, and a plethora of perfectionism scales have obscured understanding of how perfectionism fits within the FFM. We addressed these limitations by conducting the...

Decades of research implicates perfectionism in depressive symptoms. Yet, inconsistent findings, underpowered studies, and the tendency for researchers to assume one direction of influence have clouded understanding of whether perfectionism is a vulnerability factor for depressive symptoms, a complication of depressive symptoms, or both. Our primar...

Objective: We examined whether hangover-related rumination—repeatedly dwelling on negative aspects of yesterday’s drinking while hungover the following morning—predicts changes in three dimensions of heavy episodic drinking (HED) over time. Method: N = 334 emerging adults (aged 19–29) from three Eastern Canadian universities who had recently experi...

Introduction: In this study we investigated the stress generation hypothesis in romantic relationships, testing how individuals’ depressive symptoms can lead to interpersonal stress that worsens their depressive symptoms. Interpersonal stress was operationalized as conflict enactment (critical, hostile, and rejecting behaviors toward one's romantic...

The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) and the Existential Model of Perfectionism and Depressive Symptoms (EMPDS) are promising models of perfectionism and psychopathology. However, research examining suicide ideation within the PSDM is scarce, and no research has examined suicide ideation as an outcome in the EMPDS. Moreover, tests of...

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) – characterized by a persistent fear that arousal-related bodily sensations will lead to serious cognitive, physical, and/or social consequences – is associated with various psychopathologies, including depressive symptoms and binge eating. This 3-week, 3-wave longitudinal study examined the relation between AS (including i...

Il est essentiel d’être clair et transparent sur les résultats empiriquement valides de la recherche sur les traitements afin de protéger les patients, de guider les décideurs politiques et de faciliter l’expansion des connaissances empiriques. Dans le présent article, nous répondons aux critiques et aux allégations formulées par Egan et al. (2023)...

Motives for social media use may influence how protective or harmful social media use is to youths’ mental well-being. We therefore investigated the differential contributions to poor mental well-being of negative reinforcement (coping [distraction], conformity), and positive reinforcement (enhancement, social) motives for social media use in adole...

Introduction: While individuals have many motives to gamble, one particularly risky motive for gambling is to cope with negative affect. Conflict with one's romantic partner is a strong predictor of negative affect, which may elicit coping motives for gambling and, in turn, gambling-related problems. Support for this mediational model was demonstr...

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred public health measures to reduce viral spread. Concurrently, increases in alcohol consumption and conflict in romantic partnerships were observed. Pre-pandemic research demonstrated a bidirectional association between couples’ conflict and drinking. Recent research shows one’s drinking motives (proximal predictors of d...

Les méta-analyses concluent que la thérapie cognitivo-comportementale (TCC) pour le perfectionnisme est efficace sans aborder les indices d’efficacité tels que l’amélioration fiable, la détérioration, l’abandon et le changement lors du suivi. Nous avons abordé cette question par une réanalyse des 16 essais contrôlés randomisés inclus dans Galloway...

This study investigated potential differences in baseline (i.e., non-hangover-related) levels of depression, anxiety, and stress between individuals who are sensitive to and those resistant to hangovers after consuming alcohol. Participants included 5111 university students from the Neth-erlands and the U.K., including 3205 hangover-sensitive and 1...

Objective: Alcohol and cannabis use motives are often studied as contributors to risky substance use patterns. While various measures for capturing such motives exist, most contain 20+ items, which render their inclusion in certain research designs (e.g., daily diary) or with certain populations (e.g., polysubstance users) unfeasible. We sought to...

Objective: Romantic relationship dysfunction is a risk for subsequent alcohol use, with some research suggesting gender differences in this link. We evaluated how different aspects of relationship dysfunction are related to different drinking behaviors, and whether these associations vary by gender. We further examined the role of age as a potenti...

In early 2020, schools across Canada closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring parents to homeschool their children. We examined the association between homeschooling and romantic conflict among couples during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian couples (N = 756) completed online measures, including whether they were homeschooling, hours spent hom...

Perfectionism is linked to a range of psychopathology, including binge eating. Our study enhanced understanding of the role maternal perfectionistic concerns play in the maintenance of binge eating in emerging adult daughters. A sample of 73 mother-daughter dyads (mean age = 49.51 years for mothers and 19.89 years for daughters) reported on perfect...

Introduction: In early 2020, North American jurisdictions required households (e.g., romantic couples) to isolate together to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This study provides a first look at the interplay of depressive symptoms and conflict behaviors among isolating couples, including tests of predictions of the stress generation hypothesi...

Sports betting is one of the most popular forms of gambling in Canada; recent prevalence estimates indicate that 7.9% of Canadian adults endorsed gambling on sports in the past year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to the temporary closure of most major sports leagues worldwide beginning in March of 2020. These sudden closures created a dramatic...

Introduction: A significant body of research has investigated the impacts of social influence and social selection on binge drinking and risk factors for binge drinking in emerging adults; however, one risk factor for binge drinking that has yet to be thoroughly investigated in this regard is drinking motives. Preliminary research suggests the moti...

Heavy episodic drinking (or binge drinking) is a significant public health concern. Self-medication using alcohol is often thought to explain the co-occurrence of heavy episodic drinking with depression and anxiety. Yet, there is little longitudinal work examining both depressive and anxiety symptoms and how they are independently related to heavy...

Background Research documents the impact of descriptive and injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of normative and approved behaviors in general) on the cannabis use of emerging adults (EAs). Little work, however, has examined reflective injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of approval of one’s own behavior) for cannabis use. Furthermore, cannabis nor...

Objectives: Theoretical models suggest that anxiety, pain intensity, and pain catastrophizing are implicated in a cycle that leads to heightened fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). However, these relationships have not been empirically examined. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between anxiety symptoms, pain intensity, pai...

Introduction: Drinkers have social and affective reasons for using alcohol ('drinking motives'). Historically, drinking motives are self-reported. Informant-reports of drinking motives may be useful in corroborating self-report data. Thus, we investigated the correspondence between self- and informant-reports of drinking motives and the incrementa...

The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) is a theory-driven model of the relationship between perfectionism, depressive symptoms, and suicide ideation. However, to date, tests of the PSDM have not included anti-mattering (i.e., feelings of not mattering alongside feelings of insignificance and marginalization) as a mediator or suicide id...

This study tests whether perfectionism is a vulnerability factor for distress among female adolescents in the context of appearance-focused social comparison and use of social media. We hypothesized that perfectionism predicts greater depressive symptoms and lower body appreciation following appearance-focused upward social comparisons. One-hundred...

The social expectations model posits that children become perfectionistic in response to the contingent self-worth associated with parental expectations and parental criticism. Alternatively, the social learning model contends children emulate their parents’ perfectionistic tendencies through observation and imitation. However, inconsistent finding...

Introduction: Decades of research show an association between alcohol use and death by suicide. However, findings on the temporal link between alcohol use and death by suicide are unclear. In the most comprehensive meta-analysis on the topic to date, we analyzed data from longitudinal studies to determine if alcohol use is a risk for death by suic...

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality construct with various components. Socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceived social pressures and expectations to be perfect) is one key element. This trait dimension represents a chronic source of pressure that elicits feelings of helplessness and hopelessness at extreme levels. Unfortunatel...

Perceived drinking motives of social network members appear to influence emerging adults’ alcohol use indirectly through their own drinking motives. Ascertaining the accuracy of motive perceptions can determine the relevance of social norm interventions for drinking motives and the utility of egocentric versus direct-reporting social network design...

Alcohol misuse and depression are highly comorbid. Self-medication theory posits that depressed individuals use alcohol to reduce negative emotions. Research suggests that the co-pattern of depression and alcohol misuse is not uniform, and that emerging adults transitioning out of university can be differentiated into subgroups based on their co-pa...

Models of perfectionism and stress have become increasingly complex, yet perseverative cognition has been largely absent from these models and remains under-represented in the perfectionism and stress literature. This research makes several key advances by testing the perseverative cognition hypothesis in relation to perfectionism and daily stress...

Cancer and its treatment can have lasting consequences on somatosensation, including pain, which is often underrecognized and undertreated. Research characterizing the impact of cancer on pain and sensory processing in survivors of childhood cancer is scarce. This study aimed to quantify generalized differences in pain and sensory processing in sur...

Homeschooling due to COVID-19 school closures is likely to increase conflict between work and family demands, potentially leading to adverse substance-use effects. We conducted a survey with 758 couples focusing on homeschooling, work–family conflict, and alcohol use (April 2020). The 211 homeschooling couples reported more work–family conflict tha...

The declaration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic led to the closures of schools worldwide to contain disease spread. In the present study, we examine the effects of this mandated homeschooling on parents’ mental health and substance use. In a study of 758 couples, 211 of whom were homeschooling, we contrasted homeschooling effec...

COVID-19, and efforts to mitigate its spread, are creating extensive mental health problems. Experts have speculated the mental, economic, behavioral, and psychosocial problems linked to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a rise in suicide behavior. However, a quantitative synthesis is needed to reach an overall conclusion regarding the pandemic-sui...

Theory and evidence converge to suggest perfectionism is a personality construct that matters a great deal and is linked with many consequential outcomes (e.g., depression, eating disorders, suicide, marital problems, and procrastination). With the multidimensional perfectionism construct turning 30 years of age, our review critically examines the...

Background: Emergent research suggests there has been an increase in cannabis use levels during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, several gaps remain. It is unclear what impact the pandemic has had on the frequency vs. quantity of cannabis use. Additionally, research has not focused on emerging adults, a population often more likely to use cannabis....

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in families self-isolating under incredible stress. Viral containment strategies included school closures with parents left to homeschool their children with few supports from the educational system. Recent data show that those with children at home were more likely to drink heavily during the pandemic (Rodriguez et a...

Research suggests drinking motives and drinking context mediate the relation between social anxiety and alcohol problems. Study 1 examined coping with anxiety motives (CAM) and coping with depression motives (CDM) as distinct mediators in a self-report cross-sectional study of 263 undergraduate drinkers. CDM mediated the relation between social avo...

Introduction Cyberchondria involves excessive and uncontrollable online searching of information about a perceived illness. This behavior can cause or maintain distress. Objectives Little is known about cyberchondria during the COVID-19 pandemic or how cyberchondria in one individual may cause distress in their significant other if they are self-i...

In 1997, Hill and colleagues published a seminal study investigating the interpersonal quality of self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism using the interpersonal circumplex as a framework. Findings indicated the three forms of perfectionism showed different relationships with both interpersonal traits and interpersonal...

Research suggests drinking motives and drinking context mediate the relation between social anxiety and alcohol problems. Study 1 examined coping with anxiety motives (CAM) and coping with depression motives (CDM) as distinct mediators in a self-report cross-sectional study of 263 undergraduate drinkers. CDM mediated the relation between social avo...

Background: Heavy alcohol consumption and frequent alcohol use are associated with many adverse social and physical consequences. The different motivations underlying why people drink predict different patterns of alcohol consumption. A drinking buddy (i.e. a friend with whom a person drinks alcohol) influences a person’s drinking via social learni...

Aims Alcohol use follows a developmental trajectory—steadily increasing and peaking in the early stages of emerging adulthood (e.g. first year of university) and declining thereafter. While most individuals ‘mature out’ of problem drinking as they move through emerging adulthood, some continue to drink heavily and experience serious problems. Tensi...

Background Emerging research suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant increase in self-reported isolation and loneliness in a large proportion of the population. This is particularly concerning given that isolation and loneliness are associated with increased cannabis use, as well as using cannabis to cope with negative affect....

The four-factor vulnerability model posits that the personality factors of hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking are relevant for engagement in and escalation of addictive behaviours (Conrod et al., 2000a). While initially validated for substance misuse, this model has not yet been utilized in studying behavioural ad...

Self-critical perfectionism confers vulnerability for depressive symptoms, but research suggests vulnerability persists after treatment. Dysregulation of physiological stress systems is a potential mechanism for depression vulnerability, and yet it remains under-studied in research on perfectionism, stress, and depression. We aimed to address this...

The stress generation model posits perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings generate stress and, in turn, depression. Alternatively, the Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) maintains perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings confer risk for depression through social disconnection. However, inconsistent finding...

Purpose Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) may belong on the eating disorder (ED) or obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum. We sought to provide additional evidence regarding the working classification of ON as an ED. Methods 512 individuals completed a measure of ON symptoms (rBOT), ED symptoms (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire), OC symptoms (Obsessiv...

The existential model of perfectionism and depressive symptoms (EMPDS) posits difficulties accepting the past (i.e., viewing past experiences as incoherent, dissatisfying, and meaningless) explains when and why socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceiving others as requiring perfection of the self) confers risk for depressive symptoms. Howev...

The partner influence hypothesis postulates one partner's alcohol use influences the other partner’s alcohol use over time. While several studies have examined the partner influence hypothesis, the magnitude and gender-specific nature of partner influences on alcohol use are unclear and have yet to be examined meta-analytically. We addressed this b...

Objective Robust evidence suggests children’s catastrophizing about their own pain is a risk factor for poor child pain‐related outcomes. In children of parents with chronic pain, child catastrophizing about their parents’ pain might be a unique predictor of child pain‐related outcomes given their increased exposure to parental chronic pain and dis...

The Existential Model of Perfectionism and Depressive Symptoms (EMPDS) is a promising integrative model. According to the EMPDS, self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism indirectly influence depressive symptoms through rumination and difficulty accepting the past. Yet, the extent to which self-oriented perfectionism, social...

Background: Binge drinking peaks in emerging adulthood and is associated with a myriad of negative consequences. Research indicates that social network members have a significant influence on binge drinking. In particular, theory suggests that drinking habits of romantic partners and peers have a stronger influence on emerging-adult binge drinking...

Self-critical perfectionism confers vulnerability for depressive symptoms, but research suggests vulnerability persists after treatment. Dysregulation of physiological stress systems is a potential mechanism for depression vulnerability, and yet it remains under-studied in research on perfectionism, stress, and depression. We aimed to address this...

Alcohol misuse and depression are highly comorbid. Self-medication theory posits that depressed individuals use alcohol to reduce negative emotions. Research suggests that the co-pattern of depression and alcohol misuse is not uniform, and that emerging adults transitioning out of university can be differentiated into subgroups based on their co-pa...

Over 25 years of research suggest an important link between perfectionism and personality traits included in the five-factor model (FFM). However, inconsistent findings, underpowered studies, and a plethora of perfectionism scales have obscured understanding of how perfectionism fits within the FFM. We addressed these limitations by conducting the...

Spending time in nature is beneficial for stress reduction and recovery. Using the properties of biophilic design, this study examined the influence of a nature-based indoor environment on physiological stress systems. An experimental study was designed to assess the influence of indoor natural elements on autonomic activity (heart rate variability...

Perfectionistic automatic thoughts have been linked with depressive symptoms in numerous cross-sectional studies, but this link has not been assessed in longitudinal research. An investigation with two timepoints was conducted to test whether perfectionistic automatic thoughts, as assessed by the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI), are contri...

The Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS; Smith, Saklofske, Stoeber, & Sherry, 2016) is a 45-item self-report measure of perfectionism with three overarching factors: rigid, self-critical, and narcissistic perfectionism. Our objective was to create a brief version of the BTPS, the Big Three Perfectionism Scale-Short Form (i.e., BTPS-SF). Sixteen ite...

Children of parents with chronic pain have higher rates of pain and internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depressive) symptoms than children of parents without chronic pain. Parental modeling of pain behaviour and reinforcement of child pain have been hypothesized to underlie these relationships. These mechanisms were tested in a sample of 72 parents with...

Heavy drinking in college remains a concerning issue due to its association with both health and social risks. While modelling contributes to college students’ alcohol use, little work has identified who might be most susceptible to modelling effects. Peterson, Morey, and Higgins (2005) found males high in extraversion were more susceptible than ot...

Excessive alcohol consumption is related to adverse physical and social consequences. Research shows an individual's own drinking motives (reasons for drinking alcohol) are linked to his or her specific drinking outcomes in a theoretically expected manner. Romantic couples often engage in a "drinking partnership," where partners reciprocally influe...

People high on socially prescribed perfectionism perceive intense external pressures to be perfect, and these pressures place them at risk for depressive symptoms. Likewise, the external pressures experienced by people high on socially prescribed perfectionism appear, in part, to be a legitimate response to members of their social network (influenc...

Background Case histories, theoretical accounts, and empirical studies suggest an important relationship between perfectionism and bulimic symptoms. However, whether perfectionism confers vulnerability for bulimic symptoms is unclear. Objective To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis testing if socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over...

Background: Case histories, theoretical accounts, and empirical studies suggest an important relationship between perfectionism and bulimic symptoms. However, whether perfectionism confers vulnerability for bulimic symptoms is unclear. Objective: To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis testing if socially prescribed perfectionism, concern ove...

People high on socially prescribed perfectionism perceive intense external pressures to be perfect, and these pressures place them at risk for depressive symptoms. Likewise, the external pressures experienced by people high on socially prescribed perfectionism appear, in part, to be a legitimate response to members of their social network (influenc...

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to a dispositional tendency to respond to one’s anxiety sensations with fear. Longstanding theoretical accounts implicate AS in alcohol misuse; however, the relationship between AS and alcohol misuse remains unclear. We addressed this by testing whether AS is a risk factor for, and/or complication of, alcohol misuse...

Alcohol problems are not just an individual concern; they have important negative impacts on romantic relationships. Perceiving one's romantic partner to have an alcohol problem is associated with lower relationship satisfaction and commitment. However, the utility of informant-reports of a partner's alcohol problems in predicting future dyadic con...

The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) is a promising integrative model explaining relations between socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceiving others require perfection) and depressive symptoms. Yet, the nature of the social disconnection proposed by the PSDM requires explication. Likewise, longitudinal tests of the PSDM are...

People high on socially prescribed perfectionism perceive intense external pressures to be perfect, and these pressures place them at risk for depressive symptoms. Likewise, the external pressures experienced by people high on socially prescribed perfectionism appear, in part, to be a legitimate response to members of their social network (influenc...

The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) is a promising integrative model explaining relations between socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceiving others require perfection) and depressive symptoms. Yet, the nature of the social disconnection proposed by the PSDM requires explication. Likewise, longitudinal tests of the PSDM are...

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to a dispositional tendency to respond to one's anxiety sensations with fear. Longstanding theoretical accounts implicate AS in alcohol misuse; however, the relationship between AS and alcohol misuse remains unclear. We addressed this by testing whether AS is a risk factor for, and/or complication of, alcohol misuse...

Undergraduates with high social anxiety have increased alcohol problems, despite lower or equivalent alcohol use levels. Drinking motives mediate the cross-sectional relationship between social anxiety and alcohol problems, with coping and conformity motives being the most commonly observed mediators. Our study extended prior research by using a lo...

Over 100 years of theory, research, and clinical observations suggest perfectionism is a defining feature of the way narcissists' think, feel, and behave. Our chapter first offers a comprehensive review of how trait perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation relate to the two core themes of narcissism: narcissistic grandiosity and narcissi...

Perfectionism involves impression management concerns, and yet perfectionistic-self presentation is often neglected when studying academic problems (e.g., communication anxiety). Research also focuses predominantly on undergraduate students, despite graduate degrees becoming increasingly common. This study tests incremental prediction of perfection...

The perfectionism social disconnection model (PSDM) asserts socially prescribed perfectionism confers risk for depression by eroding social self-esteem. However, self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism are neglected in extant tests of the PSDM. Moreover, the PSDM attributes the source of depression to dispositional characterist...

Background: Research suggests enhancement, conformity, social, coping-with-anxiety, and coping-with-depression drinking motives are linked to specific drinking outcomes in a theoretically-expected manner. Social learning theory suggests people who spend more time together emulate each other's behaviour to acquire reinforcing outcomes. The present...

Many perfectionists struggle to benefit from and to participate in harmonious, satisfying, and stable interpersonal relationships. Perfectionism seems to thwart a basic human need for close interpersonal relationships. Congruent with this view, perfectionism is linked with interpersonal problems (Hewitt, Flett, Sherry, & Caelian, 2006; Sherry, Mack...

Perfectionistic concerns are putative risk factors for procrastination. Even so, rigorously tested models explaining why perfectionistic concerns result in procrastination are scarce. To address this our study proposed, tested, and supported a model explaining why perfectionistic concerns give rise to procrastination. This model posits perfectionis...

Theoretical accounts suggest perfectionists are prone to suicide ideation, and over 25 years of research has tested these accounts. First, we review research demonstrating perfectionists think, relate, perceive, and behave in ways that engender suicide ideation, and use Ernest Hemmingway’s suicide as a case example. Next, we scrutinize evidence sug...

Socially prescribed perfectionists play an active role in creating stress through a process known as stress generation. Extensive evidence also suggests that stress among socially prescribed perfectionists stems from perceived external pressures to be perfect. However, the degree to which these sensed outside pressures reflect real or imagined dema...

Alcohol misuse is an increasingly common problem in undergraduate women. Building upon research suggesting that maturing out of risky patterns of alcohol use can occur, our study tested how three facets of alcohol use change differentially over time in undergraduate women. A sample of 218 undergraduate women (M age = 20.6 years) participated in a f...

Background: Approximately one in five adults engage in heavy episodic drinking (HED), a behavior with serious health and social consequences. Environmental, intrapersonal, and interpersonal factors contribute to and perpetuate HED. Prior research supports the partner influence hypothesis where partners influence each other's HED. Objectives: We...

Neuroticism overlaps substantially with several perfectionism dimensions, depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction. Accordingly, research testing whether perfectionism dimensions explain unique variance in these outcomes beyond neuroticism is needed. Research on cultural differences in perfectionism is also scarce. And it is especially un...