Low Frustration Tolerance, Childhood Perfectionism, and Mental Health Problems in Peruvian Children: A Network Analysis

Background/Objectives: Childhood mental health problems are often organized into interrelated emotional, attentional, and behavioral domains. However, little is known about how low frustration tolerance and childhood perfectionism are connected with these domains in school-aged children. This study aimed to estimate the network structure of low frustration tolerance, childhood perfectionism, and mental health problems in Peruvian children aged 8 to 12 years.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 707 Peruvian children from public and private schools in Lima, Peru. The assessed variables were low frustration tolerance, perfectionistic self-demands, reaction to failure, internalizing problems, attention problems, and externalizing problems. A non-regularized Gaussian graphical model was estimated using Spearman correlations. Expected influence was calculated to identify central nodes. Network accuracy and stability were evaluated using nonparametric bootstrap and case-dropping procedures. Network comparisons were performed according to sex and school type.