THE EFFECTS OF PARENTING ON PERFECTIONISM AND INTOLERANCE TO UNCERTAINTY IN YOUTH AND ADULTS

Andreea ȘIȚOIU (1), Georgeta PÂNIȘOARĂ (2)
Keywords: intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, parental support.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26758/14.1.1

(1) (2) University of Bucharest, Doctoral School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Bucharest, Romania; e-mail: (1) andreea.sitoiu.20@drd.unibuc.ro; (2) georgeta.panisoara@fpse.unibuc.ro;

(1) Transilvania University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Brasov, Romania; e-mail: andreea.sitoiu@unitbv.ro

Address correspondence to: Andreea Șițoiu, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Transilvania University, Boulevard of Heroes, 29 Brasov, Romania; Phone: +40785946659; E-mail: andreea.sitoiu@unitbv.ro

Abstract

 Objectives. Perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty can be two elements that distort the optimal development of a child for his transformation into a successful adult. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty, as well as establish the impact of parental support on them.

Material and methods. This study was conducted on a sample of 247 respondents, 226 (91%) female, 20 (8%) male, and 1 respondent who did not state gender. The method used was the indirect survey, and the research instrument used was the questionnaire through which the three research variables were measured. Results were processed using statistical operations such as correlations, regressions, and ANOVA analysis of variance.

Results. As the level of parental support decreases, the level of uncertainty intolerance increases (r = – .18, p = .006, p < .05). A significant effect of the respondent’s age on the level of intolerance uncertainty was established (F(6,81.84) = 2.96, p = .01, p < .05). As parental recognition of feelings decreases, intolerance of uncertainty increases. The performance induced by the parents is not associated with the level of perfectionism of the respondents. The increased level of intolerance of uncertainty was associated with an increased level of perfectionism (r = .35, p < .001).

Conclusions. This study demonstrates the importance of parental support for reducing intolerance to uncertainty and, at the same time, for reducing the level of maladaptive perfectionism, according to which the young adult is constantly worried about aspects of life that cannot always be controlled.

Keywords: intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, parental support.

Introduction

According to Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate (1990) perfectionism is a dispositional trait that involves the imposition of standards that are not reasonable following the individual’s potential or conditions of action. This is also associated with the permanent tendency to criticize one’s person, but also with emotional dysregulation, and dissocial behavior, respectively, according to which the young person does not respect the rights of those around him and cannot adapt to social norms (Casale, Fiorovanti, & Ghinassi 2023). Along with perfectionism as a variable of the present study, intolerance of uncertainty is named in the literature according to Graham (2021), psychological allergy, a concept explained by the fact that when an individual intolerant to uncertainty is exposed to a low level of intolerance to uncertainty, he will have a disproportionately strong reaction to the actual uncertainty towards the event, respectively. In this case, the result is a strong emotional reaction that increases the risk of stress and anxiety.

Perfectionism and its limitations

There are two models of the development of perfectionism: social expectations and social learning models. According to social expectations, perfectionism develops as a result of parental standards and criticism, while perfectionism developed through social learning is represented by both observing and imitating parental perfectionism. If parental expectations refer more specifically to youths’ tendency to perceive them as holding excessively high standards in line with their ability to meet those standards, overly critical parents are perceived by youths as disapproving and judgmental of their imperfections. All these manifestations of parents toward their children lead to depressive disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and eating disorders (Smith, 2022).

The level of perfectionism is increasing as a result of trends such as increasingly tighter competition regarding admission to prestigious educational institutions, the increase in the cost of education for receiving quality services, the approach of parental styles focused on control, and, last but not least, the promotion of comparisons in social media (Newport Academy, 2022).

Young people’s experiences of socializing with family members are important in determining and simultaneously understanding the distinctive features of this personality trait. Regarding the level of perfectionism of the parents, Vieth & Trull (1999), concluded that there was a moderate correlation between the perfectionism of mothers and that of their daughters, while no significant association could be demonstrated between the perfectionism of fathers and that of daughters. Curran & Hill (2022) state that one cause of the growing trend of perfectionism among teenagers is represented by the increasingly accentuated presence of competitiveness and individualism in today’s society, which causes parents to adopt parenting practices that demonstrate a high level of anxiety about them, parental practices through which they excessively involve themselves in the lives of young people or, control their actions.

According to the Newport Academy platform (2022), between 25 and 30% of teenagers experience maladaptive perfectionism, as evidenced by struggling with unrealistic perfectionism to the point where it causes pain among them. It has been established that there is a genetic component to perfectionism that is reinforced over time and by parenting practices, although the predominant influence on the level of perfectionism comes from the individual’s environment.

In a study of self-critical perfectionism and life satisfaction, demonstrated that as the level of self-esteem increases, the possibility of experiencing self-critical perfectionism decreases, and as self-critical perfectionism increases, life satisfaction decreases.

Adaptive perfectionism, manifested by the person’s desire to exercise his full potential to achieve a goal but also by accepting a possible failure, can determine the acquisition of a satisfying life while maladaptive perfectionism, represented by constant and extreme worries about several aspects of life, can have negative consequences on both physical and psychological development (Fekih-Romdhane, Sawma, Obeid, & Hallit, 2023).

The specialized literature mentions that adaptive perfectionism is associated with the struggle for excellence, being present in people who set high goals, are characterized by high standards in all aspects of life, but at the same time are persistent in the activities carried out to achieve their goals. It is a type of positive perfectionism, with the person having an optimistic attitude in the face of various challenges and desiring both personal and professional growth. Maladaptive perfectionism is associated with the demand for perfection, causing the individual to focus on failure (Davis, 2023).

From the perspective of the bond between parents and children, there are two dimensions of it: parental care, represented by the manifestation of warmth and affection towards the child, and parental overprotection, characterized by behaviors denoting excessive control over the child’s actions and restrictiveness towards him. Ge, Chen, Hewitt, & Flett (2023) noted in their research on the impact of the relationship between parents and youth on the latter’s perfectionism that female youth exhibited a higher level of socially prescribed perfectionism as they experienced paternal overprotection, while young males experienced high levels of perfectionism as they benefited from paternal overprotection.

Seki (2023) demonstrated in his study about the effects of “helicopter” parents on perfectionism and the well-being of young people that as parents adopt this parenting style, there is an increase in the level of perfectionism among young people and the desire to achieve social approval.

In this case, the psychological well-being of young people is negatively affected.

Martucci, Visaggi, Di Iorio, Vacca, Zaccaria, Ardizzone, & Lombardo (2023) concluded from the study of parents and children’s perfectionism that the mother’s socially prescribed perfectionism, together with maternal kindness, conscientiousness, and flexibility, predict high personal standards, developing adaptive perfectionism in the case of children, but the same is also not true in the case of kindness, respectively paternal conscience, which was associated, according to the mentioned study, with the critical, maladaptive perfectionism of children. Thus, it was found that parents’ perfectionism can promote the development of perfectionistic tendencies in children, but at the same time, mothers and fathers influence their perfectionism differently.

Flett, Hewitt, Oliver, & Macdonald (2002) demonstrated in their study about the perfectionism of parents and children that certain aspects of perfectionism among children are associated with parental stress but also with a diminished sense of the adult’s worth from the perspective of the parenting role.

Intolerance of uncertainty and limitations on youth/adult development

Intolerance to uncertainty is a personality trait generally valid for all individuals, but it is known that in the case of some people, the level of intolerance to uncertainty is high, affecting their proper functioning and development. Like perfectionism and rigidity, intolerance of uncertainty is a predisposition and not a diagnosable disorder, but individuals with high levels of this predisposition are at greater risk for anxiety (Russo, 2022). It can also be defined as the dispositional inability of an individual to bear an aversive response triggered by the absence of important information for guiding behavior and solving the problem (Bottesi, Ghisi, Carraro, Barclay, Payne, & Freeston,2016).

Uncertainty becomes detrimental to youth development because it is responsible for triggering negative emotions such as fear and anxiety. Based on these considerations, people try to reduce uncertainty to have as clear an estimate as possible on relevant events from a motivational perspective, being followers of avoiding threats and obtaining reward or safety (Morriss, Goh, Hirsch & Dodd, 2023).

Buhr & Dugas (2002) conceptually differentiate between intolerance of uncertainty and worry. Worry refers to the individual’s excessive attention to future events that they interpret as negative and are characterized by uncertainty about the outcome. Along with focusing excessive attention on these events, the individual also experiences states of anxiety. On the other hand, uncertainty is an aspect of worry, which is manifested by the person’s tendency to consider it unacceptable for a negative event to occur in his life, regardless of how small the probability of that event occurring in reality is. If uncertainty intolerance is associated with a filter through which individuals perceive their environment, causing excessive worry when uncertain situations arise, optimal worry is a mental activity through which they reflect on the situation and possible outcomes. According to Graham (2021), intolerance of uncertainty becomes a major factor that causes the person’s worry to seem uncontrollable, and because everyday life events are also marked by uncertainty, young people must develop coping mechanisms in the face of them.

Ong, Magiati, Maybery, Rodgers, Uljarevic, & Alvares (2023) concluded following the study of parents’ perspectives on children’s intolerance of uncertainty that this often manifests itself through increased emotional behavioral reactivity of children, hurting both their development and the well-being of the family.

Although children are aware of and can respond to uncertainty early in their development, several cognitive processes related to uncertainty develop by mid-childhood and adolescence.

Introspective awareness continues to develop until elementary school, and metacognitive skills such as remembering possible predicted outcomes, delaying interpretation until additional information appears, or making tentative interpretations develop gradually (Osmanagaoglu, Creswell, & Dodd, 2018).

Intolerance of uncertainty is known to be associated with worry and rumination, which mediate the established relationships between intolerance of uncertainty and symptoms of anxiety and depression. At the same time, a strong link was established between the intolerance of uncertainty and the person’s inability to use effective strategies to regulate emotions and negative thoughts and successfully manage aversive responses to uncertainty (Sbrilli, Haigler, & Laurent, 2021).

Lauriola, Iannattone, & Bottesi (2023) found that intolerance of uncertainty and emotion processing in adolescents are closely related. Thus, changes related to intolerance of uncertainty precede changes in the processing of emotions, thus causing difficulties in emotional regulation.

Effects of parental support on Youth/adults

Parental support is described in specialized and scientific literature as being of three types: informational, emotional, and instrumental. All three forms of parental support contribute to the performance of young people in different areas, including achieving academic performance. While informational support aims to share the child’s knowledge in situations that require such parental behavior, emotional support demonstrates love, valuing the child, and belief in his abilities, and instrumental support refers to providing the financial resources necessary for the optimal development of the child from all points of view (McCulloh, 2020).

Kocayoruk, Altinas, & Icbay (2015) point out that as the parental climate gives children the opportunity to develop autonomously, their healthy growth and development are observed, as well as the emergence of psychological well-being. In this context, parental practices are defined as offering children the possibility to make autonomous choices and to express their opinion, but also to explore the opportunities that can guide them towards achieving success by providing the necessary framework for the development of social skills, respectively. All of these parenting practices will also help improve self-awareness and self-esteem. Parents’ influence and the way they handle different situations are the premises for the children’s future adult behaviours (Roman & Pinto, 2015).

Macalli, Cote, & Tzourio (2020) demonstrated in their study of parental support that a perceived lack of it on the part of adolescents is associated with an approximately fourfold greater risk of developing mental health disorders. Thus, lower levels of perceived parental support represented sources for the emergence of suicidal behavior, major depression, and generalized anxiety disorders.

From the perspective of parental support perceived by children in tasks related to school, for example, solving homework, Nunez, Freire, Ferradas, Valle, & Xu (2023) concluded that the lower children perceive the support that parents provide in school tasks, the more it increases the likelihood of self-handicapping behaviors and decreases, at the same time, their behavioral involvement in pregnancy. This low level of behavioral involvement is marked by making little effort to complete the task, partially solving the task, and procrastinating.

According to the interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, Boele, Nelemans, Denissen, Prinzie, Bulow, & Keijsers (2022), the degree of parental acceptance and rejection predicts children’s mental health, even though the way parents exercise their support towards children varies according to culture, country, or family.

Neuenschwander & Hofmann (2021) noted that parental support given to adolescents with low self-efficacy helps them to make good career decisions in the long term, thus obtaining a positive correlation between parental support and youth self-efficacy.

Current study. Objectives and research questions

The present study aims to investigate the impact of parental support on perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty on the development of young people/adults, but also how the age of young people/adults is an indicator according to which intolerance of uncertainty varies. Along with this general objective of the study, it is identified how parental behaviors such as diminishing the recognition of feelings or demanding performance under pressure act on the perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty of young people/adults. The independent variables analyzed in the research are represented by parental support, age of respondents, recognition of feelings, performance under pressure, and intolerance of uncertainty. The dependent variables analyzed are intolerance of uncertainty and perfectionism. It is found that the uncertainty intolerance variable is treated alternatively both as an independent variable and as a dependent variable.

Research questions and hypotheses

To investigate the aforementioned objectives, the following research questions and hypotheses were formulated:

RQ1: Is there an association between parental support and youth/adult intolerance to  uncertainty?

RQ2: What is the relationship between youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty and their age?

RQ3: Is there an association between parental recognition of feelings and youth/adult uncertainty intolerance?

RQ4: What is the impact of demanding performance under pressure from parents on youth/adult perfectionism?

RQ5: What is the relationship between youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty and their perfectionism?

H1: As the level of parental support decreases, youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty increases.

H2: The level of intolerance of uncertainty varies with the age of young people/adults.

H3: Decreased recognition of feelings by parents is associated with increased uncertainty in youth/adults.

H4: Parent-induced performance under pressure is associated with youth/adult perfectionism.

H5: As the level of intolerance of uncertainty increases, the level of perfectionism among youth/adults is found to increase.

Material and methods

 Participants

The sample for this research consisted of 247 respondents: 226 (91%) female, 20 (8%) male, and 1 respondent who did not state gender. The age ranges vary from under 20 years old to over 45 years old, with the predominant ones being under 20 years old in the case of 38 respondents (15%), 21-25 years old for 69 respondents (28%), and over 45 years old in the case of 44 respondents (18%).

Procedure

Data for the present study were collected online by disseminating the form in a virtual format, predominantly in social media groups. There were no exclusion conditions for participating in the study, and the data was collected from respondents including adults. Regardless of age, each respondent was advised to complete a retrospective questionnaire relating to their relationship with their parents, particularly during childhood. Participants gave their consent to participate and were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time. In addition to completing the instruments, they also provided a range of demographic information (age, gender).

The collected data were later processed using the Excel database and statistically interpreted using the Jamovi program.

Instruments

To identify the level of parental support experienced by respondents, the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (P-PASS), validated by Mageau, Ranger, Joussemet, Koestner, Moreau, & Forest (2015), was used and translated into Romanian by Raluca Livinți. The scale is composed of 24 items distributed in 6 factors as follows: Factor 1 – Freedom within certain limits; Factor 2 – Argumentation of requirements and limits; Factor 3 – Recognition of feelings; Factor 4 – Threats and punishments; Factor 5 – Performance under pressure; Factor 6 – Guilt-inducing critics. The responses are provided on a five-step Likert scale, where 1 – To a very small extent and 5 – To a very large extent.

To identify the level of perfectionism of the respondents, the Perfectionism scale was used, taken from the source International Personality Item Pool: A Scientific Collaboratory for the Development of Advanced Measures of Personality Traits and Other Individual Differences (http://ipip.ori.org/) and translated into Romanian by Dragoș Iliescu. A reference study that used this scale is by Goldberg, Johnson, Eber, Hogan, Ashton, Cloninger, & Gough (2006). The scale is composed of 9 items. The responses are provided on a five-step Likert scale, where 1 – To a very small extent and 5 – To a very large extent.

To measure the level of intolerance to uncertainty, the Uncertainty Scale-Short form (IUS-S) was used (Carleton, Norton, & Asmundson 2007). The scale was translated into Romanian by Coca Mirel-Valentin.

The scale is composed of 12 items. The responses are provided on a five-step Likert scale, where 1 – To a very small extent and 5 – To a very large extent.

The reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients – α) in the present study were: α = .82 for the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (P-PASS), α = .92 for Uncertainty Scale-Short form (IUS-S) and α = .79 Perfectionism scales.

Results

 Descriptive statistics

The means, standard deviations, standard error, minimum, maximum, skewness, and kurtosis for each variable are presented in Table 1. The value of skewness varies between – 1.02 and .44, and the value of kurtosis varies between – 1.19 and 0.96. Both ranges of values are statistically acceptable. Therefore, after the normality of the research variables was analyzed, all skewness and kurtosis values were within an acceptable range.

Table 1

Descriptive statistics for the variables parental support, intolerance of uncertainty, and perfectionism (to see Table 1, please click  here)

Testing Hypothesis 1: As levels of parental support decrease, youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty increases

To identify the link between parental support and intolerance of uncertainty, a correlational analysis was performed between the two variables, as a result of which a negative, statistically significant association was obtained (r = – .18, p = .006, p < .05) between the two variables. Thus, as parental support decreases, intolerance to uncertainty increases. These results can be explained by the fact that parental support can be associated with solid benchmarks for the child’s actions, now reaching the period of youth or adulthood. In the absence of such benchmarks and the necessary skills, the individual has difficulty coping with uncertain situations, showing intolerance towards them. Following these results, it was found that the hypothesis that as the level of parental support decreases, youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty increases was confirmed.

 Testing Hypothesis 2: The level of intolerance of uncertainty varies with the age of youth/adults

To identify how the level of intolerance to uncertainty varies according to the age of the respondents, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed between the dependent variable intolerance to uncertainty and the categorical independent variable age of the respondents, through which the sample is distributed into seven independent groups. Following the analysis of variance, a significant effect of the respondent’s age on the level of intolerance uncertainty was established F(6,81.84) = 2.96, p = .01, p < .05).

The predominant groups of respondents from the perspective of age are those under 20 years old in some 38 respondents with an average uncertainty intolerance of 35.08, the group made up of respondents aged between 21 and 25 years old in 69 respondents with an average of 35.41 tolerance to uncertainty, and groups aged between 41 and 45 years and over 45 years, in the number of 31 and 44 respondents whose average tolerance to uncertainty is 30.13 in the case of respondents aged between 41 and 45 years and 29.84 in the case of respondents over 45 years old (Table 2). It was found that the average of the uncertainty intolerance scores was higher in the case of respondents under 20 years of age, respectively in the range of 21-25 years, and as the age of the respondents approached 45 years or exceeded 45 years, the average uncertainty intolerance scores decreased. This evolution in terms of decreasing intolerance to uncertainty may be due to life experiences that can lead to improved capacity for resilience and, subsequently, for managing uncertain situations.

Following Anova output, the hypothesis that the level of intolerance of uncertainty varies with the age of youth/adults was confirmed.

Table 2

Mean scores of the uncertainty intolerance variable according to the age of the respondents (to see Table 2, please click here)

Testing Hypothesis 3: Decreased recognition of feelings by parents is associated with increased uncertainty in youth/adults

To identify the relationship between the recognition of the respondents’ feelings by the parents, as a way of providing parental support and intolerance to uncertainty, a correlational analysis was carried out between the two variables, as a result of which a negative, statistically significant association was obtained (r = – .23, p < .001). Thus, as the respondents benefited from reduced parental support from the perspective of recognizing feelings, their level of intolerance to uncertainty increased.

To determine how the level of intolerance of uncertainty varies according to parental recognition of feelings, a regression analysis was performed between the two variables. The regression coefficient R = .23 indicates the statistically significant association between the two variables (p < .001), and the value of the coefficient R2 = .05 demonstrates that 5% of the variability of intolerance to uncertainty is influenced by the recognition of feelings by parents.

Following correlational analysis and linear regression, the hypothesis that decreased recognition of feelings by parents is associated with increased uncertainty in youth/adults was confirmed.

Testing Hypothesis 4: Performance under parent-induced pressure is associated with youth/adult perfectionism

To establish the relationship between the dependent variable perfectionism and the independent variable performance under pressure from the perspective of parental support, a correlation analysis was performed between the two variables, according to which a negative and statistically insignificant association was obtained (Table 3). Based on these results, the hypothesis that parent-induced performance under pressure is associated with youth/adult perfectionism was not confirmed.

Table 3

Correlational analysis between respondents’ perfectionism and demanding performance under parental pressure (to see Table 3, please click here)

Testing Hypothesis 5: As the level of intolerance of uncertainty increases, the level of perfectionism of youth/adults is found to increase

To identify the relationship between the independent variable intolerance of uncertainty and the dependent variable perfectionism, a correlation analysis was performed between the two, as a result of which a positive, statistically significant association was obtained (r = .35, p < .001). Based on these results, it was found that as the level of uncertainty intolerance increases, so does the level of perfectionism. These results can be explained by the fact that intolerance of uncertainty is also characterized by postponing decisions regarding a series of actions, which stimulates the emergence of maladaptive perfectionism.

To determine how the level of perfectionism varies according to the level of intolerance of uncertainty, a regression analysis was performed between the two variables. The regression coefficient R = .35 indicates a statistically significant association between the two variables (p < .001), and the value of the coefficient R2 = .12 demonstrates that 12% of the variability of perfectionism is influenced by intolerance of uncertainty.

In Table 4 a correlation can be observed, which indicates the relationship of association between the variables perfectionism and the level of uncertainty of the respondents.

Table 4

Model Coefficients – Linear regression between the perfectionism variable and the level of uncertainty intolerance of the respondents (to see Table 4, please click here)

Following correlational analysis and linear regression, the hypothesis that as the level of intolerance of uncertainty increases, the level of perfectionism among youth/adults is found to increase was confirmed.

 Discussions

This study examines the impact of parental support on youth/adults’ intolerance of uncertainty as well as their level of perfectionism. Respondents’ age and parental behaviors, such as recognizing feelings and demanding performance under pressure, are indicators to which their to intolerance of uncertainty and perfectionism were measured.

Perfectionism acts on young people from two different perspectives: a positive perspective, motivating them to perform at the highest level and undertake quality work, and a negative perspective, causing states of deep, unjustified anxiety while also slowing down the pace of work. Monitoring progress to achieve the objective, adjusting standards for completing tasks and also making a list of concrete activities that must be completed can cause the emergence of positive, adaptive perfectionism and subsequently increase the chances of achieving success (Knight, 2019). Along with perfectionism, intolerance of uncertainty appears early in children’s lives and mediates the relationship between sensory hyperreactivity and anxiety, causing negative effects on their development in adulthood (Ong, Magiati, Maybery, Rodgers, Uljarevic, & Alvares, 2023).

From the perspective of parental support, Nunez, Freire, Ferradas, Valle, & Xu (2023) differentiate between parental support that focuses on building confidence and parental involvement that focuses on control exercised over the child. Adults who offer parental support encourage children to be aware of their skills and will and perceive them correctly to achieve the proposed goals. Adults who follow a parental involvement focused on control have a low tolerance for children’s problems, regardless of their nature; they become punitive and monitor them excessively.

 Implications of perfectionism on individual development

Ablard & Parker (1997), stated that academically gifted adolescents who perceived the parent as adept at validating competence through social comparison experienced higher risks of experiencing maladaptive perfectionism by imposing high personal standards, excessive worry about mistakes, and a doubtful attitude about the ability to act in different contexts. In contrast to them, adolescents who perceived their parents as adept at improving learning skills and orienting themselves toward achieving goals and not toward social comparison developed adaptive perfectionism. This type of perfectionism is characterized by the natural acceptance of mistakes and acting in the direction of identifying the most suitable solutions to solve the problem, namely the young person’s low tendency to express doubts about his actions.

As parents were characterized by a high level of expectations towards their children, but also of criticism towards their behavior, young people registered an increased level of socially prescribed perfectionism, according to which individuals believe that others have exaggerated expectations of them, causing reduced effective communication skills, but also the formation of the perception of social support as low (Curran & Hill, 2022).

Even though high societal or even parental standards from teenagers are associated with increased levels of perfectionism, in an article on the impact of perfectionism on mental health, Newport Academy (2022) states that high standards, also called “perfectionistic strivings”  don’t always cause problems. A young person with a balanced ambition to achieve excellence achieves the performance of achieving satisfaction by putting in effort even if the result is not up to expectations and persevering by integrating the lessons learned from mistakes.

The main difference between the positive and negative dimensions of perfectionism is represented by young people’s perception of the goals they want to achieve. Thus, positive perfectionism is associated with their pleasure to accept their limits, striving in a controlled, constructive way to achieve perfection, and negative perfectionism is characterized by the imposition of unrealistic expectations of the capabilities of individuals and the conditions in which they can carry out the activity, becoming permanently dissatisfied with their performance (Seki, 2023).

The impact of intolerance of uncertainty on individual development

People characterized by intolerance of uncertainty, according to Russo (2022), are defined by behaviors such as preparing excessively for different situations, memorizing possible answers that could help them avoid the tension caused by intolerance of uncertainty, documenting in depth from all valid sources to cope with any given situation, seeking reassurance from others about solving problems, avoiding taking risks when the outcomes are not fully known, making decisions under the influence of impulsiveness to escape the pressure caused by uncertainty, or becoming inflexible when they have access to new information that can change their perspective on something previously known.

High levels of intolerance to uncertainty are associated with the frequent expression of negative emotions, such as anger, especially in the case of people with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive control, but also with the diminution of positive emotions and reduced anticipation of reward, especially in the case of individuals with depression. As the level of intolerance of uncertainty increases, young people show a heightened tendency to overperceive threats regarding uncertain situations that may ultimately have a positive outcome (Morriss, Goh, Hirsch & Dodd, 2023).

According to Osmanagaoglu, Creswell, & Dodd (2018), youth anxiety and worry are positively correlated with intolerance of uncertainty, and this can also be manifested through avoidance behaviors or information-seeking in uncertain conditions.

Steiner & Dahlquist (2021) draw attention to the importance of parental support, demonstrating that maternal intolerance of uncertainty and child health increases the risk of protective parenting. In the case of this type of parenting, adults do not provide support for the child’s development but show excessive control over it. In this sense, the importance of training programs in the field of parental education that prepare adults to manage their uncertainties regarding the status of a parent to later be able to support the child in possible moments of intolerance to uncertainty and not only.

When children perceive their parents as having a low level of acceptance of them, giving them less warmth and affection, or when they perceive them as very rejecting, causing them to feel unappreciated as children or even despised, they increase their risk of developing depressive symptoms. All this is associated with a reduced level of parental support (Boele, Nelemans, Denissen, Prinzie, Bulow, & Keijsers 2022).

Limitations and future directions

Along with the implications of this study, which considers the impact of parental support on perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty in young people/adults, the following limitations were identified: the absence of statistically high correlations to explain the links between variables and the presence of a sample that is characterized by a reduced level of heterogeneity from the perspective of the age of the respondents, a fact that determines the questionable character of the variance of intolerance to uncertainty according to age. In this context, it becomes necessary to expand the sample of respondents to obtain results defined by a high level of validity.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of parental support in the context of perfectionism and uncertainty intolerance among young/adult research participants. The results indicate that as parents provide less support to children, they experience increased levels of intolerance of uncertainty, even into youth and adulthood. At the same time, a decrease in intolerance to uncertainty is present as individuals advance in age as a result of the skills they develop in terms of managing uncertain situations.

The more reduced childhood parental support young people/adults experienced, from the perspective of recognizing feelings, the higher the level of intolerance to uncertainty, but the absence of parental support and its replacement with the demand for performance in the presence of pressure is not associated with the emergence of perfectionism among youth/adults. This relationship between parent-induced achievement and youth/adult perfectionism requires future research to draw valid conclusions.

The increased level of intolerance to uncertainty is associated with increasing the level of perfectionism and implicitly affecting the quality of life of individuals and the achievement of goals, reducing the feeling of self-efficacy.

From an educational point of view, the theme of this research highlights the impact of parental behaviors on perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty on the child who is currently in the stage of youth or adulthood. Parental support represents an essential behavior for the well-being of the young adult, who has now become independent from his parents but who can even now feel the effects of authoritarian or permissive parenting. The educational implications of the study also aim at the transmission of behavioral models from parents to children who have become young and adults, respectively, behaviors that can later be transposed in the relationship of the young person/adult with their own child. From these considerations, the necessity of forming healthy principles, valid from a scientific point of view, through which parents can ensure a quality education for the child with positive effects in the long term, is found.

The autonomy provided by parents to the young person/adult during childhood, the creation of opportunities for him to form critical thinking skills, and also the ability to make decisions are associated with increasing intolerance of uncertainty as he advances in age. These aspects should represent a strong motivation for today’s parents to find a balance between their and the child’s needs, between the support offered and the opportunity to exercise autonomy.

Following the obtained results, the approach of parenting strategies adapted to the needs of the child in the context of optimal and multilateral development with an impact on the periods of youth and adulthood is noted.

The results demonstrate the importance of awareness of the effects of parental behaviors from the perspective of the child’s adult life and the implementation of parental education programs focused on prevention.

Acknowledgments

 A summary of this paper was presented at the online international conference: Individual, family, society: contemporary challenges, fifth edition, October 4–5, 2023, Bucharest, Romania, and published in the journal Studii şi Cercetări de Antropologie, No. 8/2023.

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