Psychometric characteristics of three different perfectionism questionnaires in spanish speakers and associations with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation

Abstract

Perfectionism is a variable that is potentially associated with several psychopathologies. However, there is no clear definition of its constructs or its associations with diverse symptomatologies, nor reliable instruments in Spanish for its assessment. The questionnaires were administered to a sample of 714 undergraduates from a Spanish public university, with a mean age of 20.4 years (SD = 1.29). Confirmatory and/ or exploratory factor analyses were used when needed. The results showed difficulties in the fit of the theoretical models initially proposed although we obtained reliable measures of perfectionism for samples of Spanish speakers. Furthermore, perfectionistic concerns from the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire was the only factor that significantly predicted depression and anxiety, while the seven items for the perfectionistic concerns and socially prescribed perfectionism factor of the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale were the strongest predictors of suicide ideation in our sample. This study presents different options for assessing several constructs underlying perfectionism for Spanish speaking populations as well as their associations with depression, anxiety and suicide ideation.