Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Throughout the world, suicide is a major problem. Moreover, amongst Canadians aged 15-24 suicide is the second leading cause of death. Research has shown that maladaptive perfectionists, individuals concerned with living up to high expectations and with intense self-criticism, are at increased risk of committing suicide and are especially resistant to treatment. Importantly, within the highly competitive university environment, maladaptive perfectionism is notably high. Yet, there are no well researched treatments for maladaptive perfectionists that are at-risk of committing suicide. Research has also shown that both maladaptive perfectionism and suicide are associated with having difficulties managing emotions. Therefore, a treatment that targets difficulties with managing emotions appears to be the ideal method for reducing instances of suicide amongst maladaptive perfectionists. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a treatment specifically focused on managing emotions, and it was specially designed for treatment of suicidal individuals. Adapted from DBT, DBT Skills Training (DBT-S) is a short-term and cost effective treatment that effectively treats university students. However, DBT-S has not yet been used to treat maladaptive perfectionists. This study will therefore explore the effectiveness of DBT-S for treating maladaptive perfectionism and suicide-risk amongst university students. Participants will complete measures of maladaptive perfectionism, suicide-risk and difficulties managing emotions prior to treatment, immediately after treatment and 4 weeks after treatment. Statistical tests will explore whether DBT-S results in significant reductions in maladaptive perfectionism and suicide-risk and whether these changes are due to improved ability to manage emotions. This project will be the first to examine a treatment that is easily accessible and cost-effective for this high-need population, as well as inform future research and mental health programming.