Is Excessive Celebrity Admiration Related to Pathological Concern for Others, Distress, and Adverse Childhood Experiences?

The primary aim of this study was to provide additional validation for a brief version of the well-documented <i>Celebrity Attitude Scale</i> (CAS-7) in an American sample. This study sought to determine if there is a significant association with the strength of one's admiration for a favorite celebrity and (1) a pathological concern for the needs of others (2) symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, (3) and adverse childhood experiences. The CAS-7, the <i>Pathological Concern Questionnaire</i> (PCQ), the <i>Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale</i> (DASS-9), and the <i>Revised Adverse Childhood Experiences</i> scale (R-ACE) were administered to 367 undergraduate students (80.66% women, <i>M</i>_<i>age</i> = 20.26 years, <i>SD</i> = 3.63) from four American institutions. Zero-order correlations indicated that psychological distress and pathological concern were positively associated with both healthy and unhealthy dimensions of celebrity worship. In the path model, psychological distress showed a robust positive association with intense-pathological celebrity worship. Adverse childhood experiences displayed opposing conditional pathways-a small, positive, indirect association via psychological distress and a weak, negative, direct association with intense-pathological celebrity worship-implying a heterogeneous pattern of associations. The findings also provide further support for the validity of the CAS-7 in an American sample.