Perfectionism refers to a strong need to perform at a flawless level and to adhere to excessively high standards (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Perfectionism is generally viewed as a multifaceted construct. Self-oriented perfectionism refers to high standards of achievement for oneself and a desire to attain perfection. Socially prescribed perfectionism refers to the belief that unrealistically high expectations are imposed on oneself by significant others. Other-oriented perfectionism refers to having excessively high standards for others (Hewitt & Flett, 1991).
Perfectionism has also been deemed as adaptive/healthy (e.g., high personal expectations or standards) or maladaptive/unhealthy (e.g., discrepancy between personal expectations and performance self-evaluations) (Rice, Ashby, & Slaney, 2007). Adaptive perfectionism is associated with positive attributes such as conscientiousness, achievement striving, order, self-discipline, organization, life satisfaction, positive affect, and academic success (Hill, Huelsman, & Araujo, 2010). Conversely, maladaptive perfectionism is related to suicidality as well as anxiety, mood, eating, and other psychological disorders in adults and youth (Boone et al., 2012, DiBartolo and Varner, 2012, Flett et al., 2011 and Roxborough et al., 2012). Maladaptive perfectionism also erodes positive treatment outcomes for various disorders (Egan, Wade, & Shafran, 2011). Self-oriented perfectionism in the absence of socially prescribed perfectionism can be adaptive, though socially prescribed perfectionism itself is often maladaptive (Klibert, Langhinrichsen-Rohling, & Saito, 2005).
The study of the development of perfectionism in general is thus important, and several risk factors have been postulated or identified. Key internal risk factors include temperament, genetics, effortful control, and intolerance of uncertainty (Affrunti & Woodruff-Borden, in press). Parents may also have a crucial role in perfectionism development, so methods of transmission, parent psychopathology, and parenting style have also been examined (Hutchinson and Yates, 2008, McArdle and Duda, 2008 and Rice et al., 2008). Methods of transmission may include modeling, information transfer, and reinforcement (Fisak & Grills-Taquechel, 2007).
Several investigators have found associations between parent and child self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism (e.g., Appleton, Hall, & Hill, 2010). Flett and Hewitt (2002) described perfectionism as a response to social expectations held by parents and significant others and suggested that anxious childrearing may contribute to perfectionism. These paths are expected to be more ingrained over time, so older children may be more likely to exhibit higher levels of perfectionism. Longitudinal work supports this notion (Stoeber, Otto, & Dalbert, 2009).
Researchers have begun to examine family and parent characteristics related to child perfectionism utilizing juvenile samples as opposed to adult retrospective reports. DiPrima, Ashby, Gnilka, and Noble (2011) found that adolescents who were adaptive perfectionists generally perceived their family environment as more positive, cohesive, flexible, and adaptable than adolescents who were maladaptive perfectionists or nonperfectionists. Maladaptive perfectionism was associated more with negative self-worth and less parental nurturance. In addition, Sapieja, Dunn, and Holt (2011) found that authoritative parenting was related more to healthy than unhealthy perfectionism in young adolescent males. Flett, Druckman, Hewitt, and Wekerle (2012) also found that maltreated adolescents displayed depression, socially prescribed perfectionism, and low family support.
Other researchers have focused more specifically on the maternal role regarding child perfectionism. Clark and Coker (2009) found greater dysfunctional perfectionism among children whose mothers modeled heightened self-criticism. Hutchinson and Yates (2008) found higher levels of socially prescribed perfectionism among children whose mothers expressed their goals in a controlling and manipulative manner. Damian, Stoeber, Negru, and Baban (2013) found that adolescents who perceived that their parents had high expectations of them showed increased socially prescribed perfectionism over 7–9 months. Tong and Lam (2011) found that maternal performance goals for their children were associated with child self-oriented perfectionism.
Other researchers have begun to look at more specific parent variables to help explain the relationship with child perfectionism. Mitchell, Broeren, Newall, and Hudson (2013) asked parents to display high or non-perfectionistic rearing behaviors toward their children. Self-oriented perfectionism was significantly higher among clinically anxious children than controls following high perfectionistic rearing behaviors. In addition, Cook and Kearney (2009) found that maternal self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism and maternal psychopathology each predicted self-oriented perfectionism among sons. Maternal obsessive compulsive symptoms also mediated the relationship between mothers’ and sons’ self-oriented perfectionism.
The present study was designed to extend the specificity of these various findings. The first hypothesis was that older children would display higher levels of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism than younger children, thus extending general findings in this area (Stoeber et al., 2009). The second hypothesis was that parent perfectionism and parent depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsiveness would significantly predict child perfectionism. Depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsiveness have been implicated but not fully evaluated in previous studies (Affrunti & Woodruff-Borden, in press). The third hypothesis was that parent psychopathology variables would mediate relationships between parent and child perfectionism, thus expanding on previous mediation work (Cook & Kearney, 2009).
