Abstract
We examined patterns of mean-level change in striving for perfection, self-critical perfectionism, and socially prescribed perfectionism over two years in late childhood. The study involved five waves of data and a total of 377 children (43% girls) with a mean age of 10.66 years (SD = 0.56) at time 1. Growth curve models were used to investigate the development trajectories of perfectionism and how they differ by gender. We also examined whether initial levels and rates of change in children’s perfectionism predict subsequent self-esteem and school engagement levels. Results indicated a small but significant decline in striving for perfection and socially prescribed perfectionism for both genders. Self-critical perfectionism also decreased significantly, but only among boys. The three development trajectories were positively interrelated, suggesting that children who increased over time in one aspect of perfectionism tended to increase also in the others. Nonetheless, different prospective associations with self-esteem and school engagement were found for the three dimensions. Initial levels of striving for perfection displayed positive effects on both variables at time 5, while initial levels of socially prescribed perfectionism had negative effects. Additionally, increasing levels of striving for perfection were related to higher school engagement, above and beyond initial levels of perfectionism. Increasing levels of socially prescribed perfectionism were related to lower self-esteem. Results are discussed and linked to earlier findings on patterns of change in perfectionism during childhood and adolescence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Figshare at https://figshare.com/s/5d7dbc37abea1e811bd6.
Notes
Data were collected at the following time points: March 2013 (Time 1), May 2013 (Time 2), October 2013 (Time 3), May 2014 (Time 4), and October 2014 (Time 5).
References
Affrunti, N. W., & Woodruff-Borden, J. (2016). Negative affect and child internalizing symptoms: The mediating role of perfectionism. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 47, 358–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-015-0571-x
Archambault, I., Janosz, M., Olivier, E., & Dupéré, V. (2022). Student engagement and school dropout: Theories, evidence, and future directions. In A. L. Reschly, & S. L. Christenson (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07853-8_16
Ashby, J. S., & Rice, K. G. (2002). Perfectionism, dysfunctional attitudes, and self-esteem: A structural equations analysis. Journal of Counseling & Development, 80(2), 197–203. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2002.tb00183.x
Closson, L. M., & Boutilier, R. R. (2017). Perfectionism, academic engagement, and procrastination among undergraduates: The moderating role of honors student status. Learning and Individual Differences, 57, 157–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.04.010
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Damian, L. E., Negru-Subtirica, O., Pop, E. I., & Stoeber, J. (2022). Becoming a perfectionistic adolescent: Perceived parental behaviors involved in developmental trajectories of perfectionism. European Journal of Personality, 36(1), 24–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070211012902
Damian, L. E., Stoeber, J., Negru, O., & Băban, A. (2013). On the development of perfectionism in adolescence: Perceived parental expectations predict longitudinal increases in socially prescribed perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(6), 688–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.05.021
Damian, L. E., Stoeber, J., Negru-Subtirica, O., & Băban, A. (2017). Perfectionism and school engagement: A three-wave longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.09.044
Dunkley, D. M., Blankstein, K. R., Zuroff, D. C., Lecce, S., & Hui, D. (2006). Self-critical and personal standards factors of perfectionism located within the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(3), 409–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.07.020
Egan, S. J., Piek, J. P., Dyck, M. J., & Rees, C. S. (2007). The role of dichotomous thinking and rigidity in perfectionism. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(8), 1813–1822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.02.002
Emler, N. (2001). Self-esteem: The costs and causes of low self-worth. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York Publishing Service.
Farrell, A. H., & Vaillancourt, T. (2019). Developmental pathways of perfectionism: Associations with bullying perpetration, peer victimization, and narcissism. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 65, 101065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101065
Flett, G. L., Blankstein, K. R., Hewitt, P. L., & Koledin, S. (1992). Components of perfectionism and procrastination in college students. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 20(2), 85–94. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.1992.20.2.85
Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2014). A proposed framework for preventing perfectionism and promoting resilience and mental health among vulnerable children and adolescents. Psychology in the Schools, 51(9), 899–912. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21792
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R., & O’Brien, S. (1991). Perfectionism and learned resourcefulness in depression and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 12(1), 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(91)90132-U
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Boucher, D. J., Davidson, L. A., & Munro, Y. (1997). The child–adolescent perfectionism scale: Development, validation, and association with adjustment. Unpublished manuscript.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Nepon, T., & Besser, A. (2018). Perfectionism cognition theory: The cognitive side of perfectionism. In J. Stoeber (Ed.), The psychology of perfectionism: Theory, research, applications (pp. 89–110). Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Oliver, J. M., & Macdonald, S. (2002). Perfectionism in children and their parents: A developmental analysis. In G. L. Flett, & P. L. Hewitt (Eds.), Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 89–132). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10458-004
Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (Eds.). (2002). Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10458-000
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., Friedel, J., & Paris, A. (2005). School engagement. In K. A. Moore & L. Lippman (Eds.), Conceptualizing and measuring indicators of positive development: What do children need to flourish? (pp. 305–321). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.
Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental perspective. Guilford Press.
Harvey, B. C., Moore, A. M., & Koestner, R. (2017). Distinguishing self-oriented perfectionism-striving and self-oriented perfectionism-critical in school-aged children: Divergent patterns of perceived parenting, personal affect and school performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 113, 136–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.069
Herman, K. C., Wang, K., Trotter, R., Reinke, W. M., & Ialongo, N. (2013). Developmental trajectories of maladaptive perfectionism among African American adolescents. Child Development, 84(5), 1633–1650. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12078
Hewitt, P. L., Caelian, C. F., Flett, G. L., Sherry, S. B., Collins, L., & Flynn, C. A. (2002). Perfectionism in children: Associations with depression, anxiety, and anger. Personality and Individual Differences, 32(6), 1049–1061. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00109-X
Hong, R. Y., Lee, S. S. M., Chng, R. Y., Zhou, Y., Tsai, F. F., & Tan, S. H. (2017). Developmental trajectories of maladaptive perfectionism in middle childhood. Journal of Personality, 85(3), 409–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12249
Ibáñez, M. I., Viruela, A. M., Mezquita, L., Moya, J., Villa, H., Camacho, L., & Ortet, G. (2016). An investigation of five types of personality trait continuity: A two-wave longitudinal study of Spanish adolescents from age 12 to age 15. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 512. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00512
Kang, Y., McNeish, D. M., & Hancock, G. R. (2016). The role of measurement quality on practical guidelines for assessing measurement and structural invariance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76(4), 533–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164415603764
Klimstra, T. A., Hale, W. W., Raaijmakers, Q. A., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. H. (2009). Maturation of personality in adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(4), 898–912. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014746
Lewis, J. A., Fraga, K. J., Erickson, T. M. (2019). Dichotomous thinking. In Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_651-1
Li, Y., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). Trajectories of school engagement during adolescence: Implications for grades, depression, delinquency, and substance use. Developmental Psychology, 47, 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021307
MacCallum, R. C., Kim, C., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1997). Studying multivariate change using multilevel models and latent curve models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32(3), 215–253. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3203_1
Mann, M., Hosman, C. M., Schaalma, H. P., & de Vries, N. K. (2004). Self-esteem in a broad-spectrum approach for mental health promotion. Health Education Research, 19(4), 357–372. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyg041
McCrae, R. R., Costa, P. T., de Lima, M. P., Simões, A., Ostendorf, F., Angleitner, A., Marusić, I., Bratko, D., Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Chae, J. H., & Piedmont, R. L. (1999). Age differences in personality across the adult life span: Parallels in five cultures. Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 466–477. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.35.2.466
McCreary, B. T., Joiner, T. E., Schmidt, N. B., & Ialongo, N. S. (2004). The structure and correlates of perfectionism in African American children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(2), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3302_13
Morris, L., & Lomax, C. (2014). Review: Assessment, development, and treatment of childhood perfectionism: A systematic review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 19(4), 225–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12067
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2020). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Muthén and Muthén.
O’Connor, R. C., Dixon, D., & Rasmussen, S. (2009). The structure and temporal stability of the child and adolescent perfectionism scale. Psychological Assessment, 21, 437–443. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016264
Rice, K. G., & Aldea, M. A. (2006). State dependence and trait stability of perfectionism: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(2), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.2.205
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. University Press.
Schaffhuser, K., Allemand, M., & Schwarz, B. (2017). The development of self-representations during the transition to early adolescence: The role of gender, puberty, and school transition. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 37(6), 774–804. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431615624841
Shafran, R., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (2002). Clinical perfectionism: A cognitive-behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(7), 773–791. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00059-6
Stoeber, J. (Ed.). (2018). The psychology of perfectionism: An introduction. In J. Stoeber (Ed.), The psychology of perfectionism: Theory, research, applications (pp. 3–16). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Stoeber, J., & Otto, K. (2006). Positive conceptions of perfectionism: Approaches, evidence, challenges. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 295–319. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1004_2
Stoeber, J., Otto, K., & Dalbert, C. (2009). Perfectionism and the big five: Conscientiousness predicts longitudinal increases in self-oriented perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(4), 363–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.04.004
Teasdale, J. D., Scott, J., Moore, R. G., Hayhurst, H., Pope, M., & Paykel, E. S. (2001). How does cognitive therapy prevent relapse in residual depression? Evidence from a controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(3), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.69.3.347
Tozzi, F., Aggen, S. H., Neale, B. M., Anderson, C. B., Mazzeo, S. E., Neale, M. C., & Bulik, C. M. (2004). The structure of perfectionism: A twin study. Behavior Genetics, 34(5), 483–494. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BEGE.0000038486.47219.76
Vecchione, M., & Vacca, M. (2021). An Italian adaptation of the child-adolescent perfectionism scale: Testing measurement invariance across grade levels and exploring associations with academic achievement. PLoS ONE, 16(8), e0255814. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255814
Vecchione, M., Vacca, M., Dentale, F., Spagnolo, G., Lombardo, C., Geukes, K., & Back, M. D. (2023). Prospective associations between grandiose narcissism and perfectionism: A longitudinal study in adolescence. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 41, 172–186. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12441
Funding
No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethics approval
This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the ethical committee of the Department of Psychology (Sapienza University of Rome).
Consent to participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Competing interests
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
ESM 1
(DOCX 26.2 KB)
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Vecchione, M., Marsicano, G. Mean-level change of perfectionism in late childhood: a 2-year longitudinal investigation. Curr Psychol 43, 12321–12334 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05317-2
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05317-2