Introduction
Perfectionism is highly prevalent within educational systems, since students are continuously engaged in numerous assignments and exams from childhood to adulthood. During this process, students are often encouraged to set excessively high standards for themselves. Negative perfectionism can lead to various psychological issues and maladaptive consequences in students. It is characterized by the setting of unrealistic goals and a refusal to accept personal mistakes. Research has indicated that early maladaptive schemas may be associated with the development of negative perfectionism in students. These schemas include self-defeating emotional and cognitive patterns that are formed during early development and persist throughout life. Early maladaptive schemas are categorized into five broad domains. The fifth domain, hypervigilance/inhibition, involves an excessive emphasis on the suppression of emotions, impulses, and spontaneous behaviors, as well as a rigid adherence to internalized rules and expectations concerning moral behavior, which are often associated with the loss of peace, happiness, self-expression, close relationships, and overall well-being. This domain includes the schemas of negativity/pessimism (NP), emotional inhibition (EI), unrelenting standards/hypercriticalness (US), and punitiveness (PU). 
The NP schema reflects a pervasive focus on the negative aspects of life while neglecting its positive and optimistic dimensions. The EI schema involves the excessive suppression of spontaneous emotions, behaviors, and communication in order to avoid rejection, feelings of shame, or loss of control over personal impulses. The US schema represents a core belief that one should strive excessively to meet extremely high-performance standards, often to avoid criticism. Finally, the PU schema is defined by the belief that individuals should be harshly punished for their mistakes and shortcomings. 
Existing research suggests that the relationship between maladaptive schemas and perfectionism is not linear, and several mediating variables have been investigated in this context. Rumination may act as a mediating variable in this relationship. It refers to repetitive and conscious thoughts focused on a specific topic that persist even in the absence of external stimuli. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between rumination, negative perfectionism, and maladaptive schemas. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the mediating role of rumination in the relationship between the hypervigilance/inhibition domain of maladaptive schemas and negative perfectionism in Iranian students, and provide the structural model of the relationships.

Methods
This study employed structural equation modeling (SEM). The study population consisted of all students from the universities in Tehran, Iran, in the academic year 2023-2024. From this population, 379 eligible students were selected using a convenience sampling method and the sample size was determined based on Klein’s theory. The instruments used in this research included the Young schema questionnaire-3rd edition (YSQ-S3) with 90 items, the positive and negative perfectionism scale (PANPS) developed by Terry-Short, and the rumination response scale (RRS) developed by Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow. Considering all ethical considerations, the questionnaires were distributed randomly among the participants online. After data collection, data analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS software, version 26 and AMOS software, version 24.

Results
The mean age of the participants was 22.76±2.44 years. Among the 379 participants, 73.9% were female and 26.1% were male. In terms of marital status, 91.8% were single and 8.2% were married. Regarding education level, 2.6% had an associate degree, 53.8% had a bachelor’s degree, 42.2% had a master’s degree, and 1.3% had a doctoral degree. The mean scores of the study variables were as follows: Negative perfectionism=13.44±6.42, RSS=14.27±5.41, hypervigilance/inhibition domain=16.54±61.86, NP=5.37±15.97, EI=5.12±13.70, US=4.47±19.06, and PU=5.58±13.14 (Table 1).


The fit indices of the structural model for the sample were examined. The initial model fit indices were found to be inadequate, indicating a need for model modification. The examination of the modified models revealed the following findings:
Early maladaptive schemas in the domain of hypervigilance/inhibition directly influenced negative perfectionism and rumination. Moreover, rumination had a direct effect on negative perfectionism. The indirect effect of the hypervigilance/inhibition schemas on negative perfectionism through rumination was calculated as B=-0.08, confirming the mediating role of rumination (Table 1, and Figure 1).

The NP schema directly influenced negative perfectionism and rumination. Additionally, the indirect effect of the NP schema on negative perfectionism through rumination was calculated as B=-0.07, confirming the mediating effect of rumination(Table 2, and Figure 2).


The EI schema directly influenced negative perfectionism and rumination. Additionally, the indirect effect of the EI schema on negative perfectionism through rumination was calculated as B=-0.08, confirming the mediating effect of rumination (Table 3, and Figure 3).


The US schema directly influenced negative perfectionism and rumination. Additionally, the indirect effect of the US schema on negative perfectionism through rumination was calculated as B=-0.08, confirming the mediating effect of rumination (Table 4).


The PU schema directly influenced negative perfectionism and rumination. The indirect effect of the PU schema on negative perfectionism through rumination was calculated as B=-0.07, validating the mediating effect of rumination (Table 5).



Conclusion
The results of the study indicated that negative perfectionism has a direct relationship with the hypervigilance/inhibition schemas in Iranian college students. Also, rumination plays a mediating role in the relationship between the over-vigilance/inhibition schemas and negative perfectionism. This means that these schemas, by increasing rumination, contribute to a more intense manifestation of negative perfectionism. Additionally, the results showed that rumination can mediate the relationship of the NP, EI, US and PU schemas with negative perfectionism separately. Therefore, when rumination is present, the relationship between these schemas and negative perfectionism becomes more pronounced. Therefore, by moderating the levels of these schemas in college students, it is possible to reduce their levels of rumination and negative perfectionism.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran (Code: IR.ATU.REC.1403.023). All ethical principles were observed in this study, and the personal information of the participants remained confidential.

Funding
This study was extracted from the master’s thesis of Mehrnoush Samandar, approved by the Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for profit sectors.

Authors contributions
Conceptualization, investigation, resources, original draft preparation, and methodology: Mehrnoush Samandar; Supervision: Ahmad Borjali; Review & editing: Farideh Hossein Sabet.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all the students who participated in this research for their cooperation and time.




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