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Cluster analyses, cross-validated discriminant function analyses, and receiver operating characteristic curves for sensitivity and specificity of APS-R scores were used to derive efficient and straightforward calculations and decision rules for classifying students as perfectionists (and as either adaptive or maladaptive). Convergent validity of the cutoff scores for group membership was supported by expected group differences on other measures of perfectionism. Criterion-related (concurrent) validity of the classification scheme was supported by comparison of groups on measures of depression, life satisfaction, and grade point average. The cutoffs and decision rules should prove useful in applied or future research situations in which differentiation of perfectionists and nonperfectionists is desired.

This study of college students {TV = 464) examined the association between adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism and 2 mental health outcomes (self-esteem and depression). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to develop and assess the measurement model used in this study. Structural equations modeling was used to test a mediational model derived from prior theory and research. Analyses supported the existence of 2 perfectionism factors. Path models revealed that adaptive perfectionism was not directly or indirectly (through self-esteem) associated with depression. Maladaptive perfectionism was negatively associated with self-esteem and positively associated with depression. Self-esteem also buffered the effects of maladaptive perfectionism on depression. Distinguishing adaptive from maladaptive perfectionism is discussed in the context of recommendations for practice and future research.The construct of perfectionism has been receiving increased attention in the psychological literature in recent years. This attention has most often portrayed perfectionism as a negative or harmful attribute. For example, Pacht (1984) referred to "the insidious nature of perfectionism" (p. 387). More recently Blatt (1995), in an article in the American Psychologist titled "The Destructiveness of Perfectionism: Implications for the Treatment of Depression,'' discussed the suicides of three "talented, ambitious, and successful individuals'* (p. 1005) and attributed them to what he described as "intense perfectionism" (p. 1003). He also suggested that this "intense perfectionism" interfered significantly with clients' responses to brief treatments for depression. His article, with its attributions to the extremely negative effects of perfectionism, is consistent with past anecdotal writing on perfectionism (

This chapter describes the efforts of several researchers to understand, define, and measure the construct of perfectionism. It focuses initially on the early development of the Almost Perfect Scale (APS), which was designed to measure the components of perfectionism. The chapter reports data on initial studies on the APS as well as data that led to the reconsideration and eventual revision of the scale to produce the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001). It presents the revision procedures and current studies on the APS-R, along with some of the clinical implications derived from the research, and it concludes by outlining some possible directions for future research.

In this study of the discriminant, convergent, and incremental validity of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), university students completed the APS-R, additional measures of perfectionism, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-Form S, and measures of self-esteem and depression. The results revealed expected significant, but not completely overlapping, associations between the APS-R Discrepancy subscale scores and the Five-Factor Model of Personality (FFM) dimension of Neuroticism, and between the APS-R High Standards and Order subscales and the FFM dimension of Conscientiousness. The incremental validity of APS-R scores over FFM dimensions was supported in analyses of self-esteem but not depression. The implications of these findings for further psychometric and clinical studies of perfectionism and facets of FFM dimensions are discussed.

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The literature on perfectionism was reviewed and was found to be primarily based on a biased sample of perfectionists in treatment and a negative perception of perfectionism related to common definitions. This negative set also influenced the empirical attempts to measure the construct. Based on these conclusions, the present study was designed to examine perfectionism by locating and interviewing a sample of participants who either considered themselves to be perfectionists or were considered to be perfectionists by others who knew them well. Results are presented and discussed along with suggestions for further research and the implications for counseling.

The goal of this paper is to advance the theory of chronic and traumatic stressors that have been identified as type III traumas in the trauma developmentally-based framework (DBTF) and use it to investigate the mental and physical health effects of such traumas on impacted individuals and groups. Participants were 438 Palestinian adolescents from the West Bank who had been exposed to a number of types of trauma including chronic intergroup violence. The age of participants in the sample ranged from 12 to 19 with a mean of 15.66 and SD of 1.43. The sample included 54.6% males, 52.3% resided in cities, 44.4% resided in villages, while 3.2% resided in refugee camps. The study utilized a measure for cumulative traumas that is based on the DBTF and measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cumulative trauma related disorders (CTD), depression, anxiety, collective annihilation anxiety (AA), identity salience, and fear of death. The results of partial correlation and path analyses indicated that continuous traumatic stress was a significant predictor of mental health. The analyses also indicated that poverty predicted identity salience and AA that mediated their negative effects on physical and mental health of Palestinian adolescents. The relevance of these results to peace, social and clinical psychology was discussed.