Perfectionism in Children and Adolescents: The Relationship with Anxiety and Depression, and How Pupil Views can Inform Intervention

Perfectionism in children and adolescents has been associated with a range of negative mental health outcomes, including anxiety and depression.

Perfectionism, however, is a multi-faceted construct and little is known about the relationship between these individual components and internalising behaviours.

A systematic literature review was conducted to investigate the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety in children and adolescents aged 0-18 years.

The review examined general anxiety in a non-clinical population and incorporated all components of perfectionism, including those labelled as 'adaptive' or 'maladaptive'.

Seventeen studies were critically analysed in relation to their methodological quality and relevance to the review question.

The findings supported a positive relationship between 'maladaptive' perfectionism and anxiety; increased perfectionism also meant increased anxiety.

The review concludes by summarising findings and highlighting areas for further research based on limitations of the reviewed studies.

This includes the need to further investigate the relationship between different components of both perfectionism and anxiety, as well as possible cultural differences.

The empirical paper uses a mixed-methods approach to explore the relationship between components of interpersonal perfectionism and anxiety and depression.

366 adolescents aged 11-14 years completed a measure of interpersonal perfectionism and a measure of anxiety and depression.

Ten participants who scored highest on these two measures were then interviewed to explore their views and experiences of perfectionism with a specific focus on help-seeking behaviours.

The results showed a positive correlation between perfectionism and anxiety and depression, although there were some differences between genders for the component 'nondisclosure of imperfection'.

Six core themes were identified from the interviews (reaction, emotional wellbeing, motivation, types of perfectionism, social support, and expectations and comparisons), which related to how participants viewed or experienced perfectionism, as well as factors that facilitated or hindered their willingness to seek support.