behavioral

sciences
Brief Report
How Are Different Perfectionism Traits Related to Mental Health
in Students?
Paweł Larionow

Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland; [email protected]

Abstract: Multidimensional models of perfectionism postulate the existence of various perfectionism

traits, with different effects on mental health. In order to suggest parsimonious targets in psycho-
logical interventions for university students, this study aimed to explore whether, how, and which
individual perfectionism traits are uniquely associated with stress and well-being. The participants
were 253 students aged 18–30 who completed the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the
Perceived Stress Scale, and the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Controlling for the
common variance of perfectionism traits in statistical analysis, it was shown that (1) Personal Stan-
dards were associated with higher well-being and lower stress, (2) Concern over Mistakes and
Doubts about Actions were related to lower well-being and higher stress, (3) Parental Expectations
and Parental Criticism were not correlated with stress, and (4) Parental Criticism was associated
with lower well-being. In the multi-predictor mediation model, with five perfectionism traits as
predictors, perceived stress was a significant mediator between several perfectionism traits (i.e.,
Personal Standards, Concern over Mistakes, and Doubts about Actions) and well-being. Overall,
Personal Standards, Concern over Mistakes, and Doubts about Actions seem to be parsimonious
psychological targets, with Personal Standards expressing mental health-promoting effects, whereas
Parental Expectations and Parental Criticism seem to be less important psychological targets.

Keywords: concern over mistakes; doubts about actions; Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism
Scale; parental criticism; parental expectations; perfectionism; personal standards; stress; students;
well-being

Citation: Larionow, P. How Are

Different Perfectionism Traits Related
to Mental Health in Students? Behav.
1. Introduction
Sci. 2024, 14, 187. https://doi.org/ Perfectionism is considered a multidimensional personality trait involving perfec-
10.3390/bs14030187 tionistic strivings (i.e., setting high standards) and perfectionistic concerns (i.e., concern
about mistakes and actions as well as subjective perceptions of negative expectations and
Academic Editors: Yura Loscalzo
and Marco Giannini
assessments by others) [1]. Researchers of perfectionism highlighted several categories of
factors that contribute to the development of perfectionism, including genetic determinants,
Received: 29 January 2024 personality traits, family factors, and educational and socio–cultural factors (for review,
Revised: 20 February 2024 see Kwarcińska et al. [2]), which were reflected in the theory and practice of perfectionism,
Accepted: 25 February 2024 including the development of psychometric measures of perfectionism.
Published: 27 February 2024 For assessing perfectionism, Frost et al. [3] developed the 35-item Frost Multidimen-
sional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), consisting of six perfectionism dimensions, including
(1) Concern over Mistakes (e.g., “I should be upset if I make a mistake”), (2) Doubts about
Actions (e.g., “Even when I do something very carefully, I often feel that it is not quite right”),
Copyright: © 2024 by the author.
(3) Parental Expectations (e.g., “My parents set very high standards for me”), (4) Parental
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
Criticism (e.g., “My parents never tried to understand my mistakes”), (5) Personal Standards
distributed under the terms and
(e.g., “It is important to me that I am thoroughly competent in everything I do”), and (6) Orga-
conditions of the Creative Commons nization (e.g., “Organization is very important to me”). Further studies have shown that the
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// last perfectionism trait, the Organization dimension, should be considered as a correlate of
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ perfectionism and not as a dimension of the perfectionism construct [1,4]. Also, research has
4.0/). indicated that Concern over Mistakes, Doubts about Actions, Parental Expectations, and

Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14030187 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci

Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 2 of 9

Parental Criticism can be treated as perfectionistic concerns, whereas Personal Standards

are an indicator of perfectionistic strivings [1,5]. Some psychometric works on the FMPS
have stressed that Parental Expectations with Parental Criticism and Concern over Mistakes
with Doubts about Actions could be combined into two factors [6]. In contrast, current
psychometric studies have contributed to the five-factor model of the FMPS, indicating its
specific correlational patterns with other correlates of perfectionism [4]; therefore, assessing
all dimensions of perfectionism seems to be beneficial.
Regarding the impact of perfectionism traits on health, perfectionistic concerns were in
general related to poorer mental and somatic health, whereas perfectionistic strivings were
associated with better health (for review, see Kwarcińska et al. [2]). In the meta-analysis by
Limburg et al. [7], it was suggested that perfectionism can be considered a transdiagnostic
risk factor for psychopathologies, including anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive
disorders, with relatively strong positive links between these disorders and perfectionistic
concerns, as well as with positive but trivial or non-significant links between these disorders
and perfectionistic strivings. These conclusions were supported by Lunn et al.’s meta-
analysis [8], where the significant positive association between perfectionistic concerns and
psychopathology symptoms in young people was noted, whereas the correlation between
perfectionistic strivings and these symptoms was smaller. Piotrowski and Bojanowska [4]
suggested controlling for the common variance of perfectionism traits in statistical analysis.
Such an approach provides more comprehensive and relevant results on the unique role
of individual perfectionism dimensions associated with other variables. Therefore, they
showed that in multiple regression analyses with five perfectionism traits (as predictors),
the Personal Standards dimension was negatively associated with ill-being indicators (i.e.,
negative emotions, ruminations) while being positively associated with these indicators
in bivariate correlations. This indicates that the Personal Standards subscale plays a more
adaptive role than other perfectionism dimensions, which were associated positively with
the investigated ill-being indicators.
Considering the role of perfectionism in an educational context, recent meta-analyses
have supported that parental expectations and parental criticism have increased within the
last three decades [9], highlighting the rising role of perfectionism among students. The
theoretical and empirical support of a link between perfectionism and stress was presented
in past works (e.g., Achtziger and Bayer [10], Suh et al. [11]), including studies among
university students [12]. For example, Gil et al. [12] noted a significant positive correlation
between perfectionism (a total score of perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings)
and academic stress, with worry and rumination acting as mediators in the association
between academic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Garratt-Reed et al. [13]
revealed that perfectionistic concerns were associated (in particular, through repetitive
negative thinking) with higher levels of academic burnout, whereas perfectionistic strivings
were associated with lower levels of academic burnout. Wang and Wu [14] showed that
maladaptive perfectionism (a total score of Concern over Mistakes, Parental Expectations,
and Doubts about Actions subscales) was associated with lower life satisfaction, and
this relationship was mediated via academic burnout among students. It seems that
perfectionistic concerns lead to higher levels of ill-being, and this in turn contributes to
lower general levels of well-being.
As many previous studies mainly analyzed the links between two composite perfec-
tionism dimensions (i.e., perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings) and other
psychological variables, chiefly ill-being indicators (e.g., psychopathology symptoms), it is
unclear (1) whether, how, and which individual perfectionism traits are uniquely associated
with well-being indicators as well as with ill-being indicators, and (2) whether stress acts
as a mediator in the association between individual perfectionism traits and well-being.
This study aimed to address these two research questions with mediation analysis. In
order to understand the specific role of individual perfectionistic traits (i.e., Concern over
Mistakes, Doubts about Actions, Parental Expectations, Parental Criticism, and Personal
Standards), all these traits were treated as independent variables, whereas stress was a
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 3 of 9

mediator and well-being was a dependent variable in a mediation model with multiple
predictors. The suggestion that controlling for the common variance of perfectionism
traits in the statistical analysis approach is beneficial was indicated in previous reports by
Piotrowski and Bojanowska [4]. Hence, this statistical approach expressed in a mediation
model with multiple predictors was also applied in this study. Additionally, not only
ill-being indicators (i.e., stress) but also positive psychological mental health indicators (i.e.,
well-being) were taken into account. Based on Karademas’s [15] ideas about common and
specific predictors of well-being and ill-being, this study aimed to explore whether and
which perfectionism traits are uniquely related to either well-being or stress, indicating
their specific predictive role, or whether they are related to both of them, indicating their
common and simultaneous roles in well-being promotion and ill-being protection. This
may help in the optimization of psychological interventions in the higher education context,
suggesting parsimonious and effective psychological targets [16].
The aim of this study was (1) to explore and clarify associations of perfectionism
traits with stress and well-being, and (2) to examine the mediation role of stress in the
relationship between perfectionism traits and well-being among young people. Based on
past studies on Frost et al.’s multidimensional model of perfectionism [1,14] as well as on
the Polish validation study of the FMPS [4], I expected that the Personal Standards subscale
would be associated with lower stress and higher well-being, whereas other perfectionism
dimensions (i.e., Concern over Mistakes, Doubts about Actions, Parental Expectations,
and Parental Criticism) would be associated with higher stress and lower well-being. I
also predicted that stress would be a statistically significant mediator in the relationship
between perfectionism dimensions and well-being (in a mediation model with multiple
predictors).

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Procedure
This study was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles
and the approval of the institutional review board of the Faculty of Psychology of Kazimierz
Wielki University (No. 2/12 January 2021). This study was anonymous and voluntary and
used a paper-and-pencil format. Participants (students) were recruited at Kazimierz Wielki
University during classes. All the students provided written informed consent and then
filled out a demographic questionnaire and a short battery of self-report questionnaires on
perfectionism, stress, and well-being.

2.2. Participants
The participants were 253 social science students (207 females and 46 males) at the
Kazimierz Wielki University (Bydgoszcz, Poland). The participants’ ages ranged from 18
to 30 years, with a mean age of 20.74 years (SD = 2.18). A total of 227 (89.72%) students
obtained secondary education, and 26 (10.28%) students had a higher education degree.
Among the participants, 131 (51.78%) were single and 122 (48.22%) were in relationships.
In terms of residence, 97 (38.34%) lived in villages, 37 (14.62%) in small towns (up to
20,000 inhabitants), 31 (12.25%) in medium-sized towns (from 20,000 to 100,000), and
88 (34.78%) in large cities (above 100,000). Among the respondents, 176 (69.57%) were just
studying, and 77 (30.43%) combined studying and working.

2.3. Measures
1. The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) [3] was used for assessing per-
fectionism. The Polish version of the FMPS [4] has 29 items and five subscales:
(1) Concern over Mistakes (nine items, e.g., “I should be upset if I make a mistake”),
(2) Doubts about Actions (four items, e.g., “Even when I do something very carefully,
I often feel that it is not quite right”), (3) Parental Expectations (five items, e.g., “My
parents set very high standards for me”), (4) Parental Criticism (four items, e.g., “My
parents never tried to understand my mistakes”), and (5) Personal Standards (seven items,
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 4 of 9

e.g., “It is important to me that I am thoroughly competent in everything I do”). The FMPS
uses a 5-point response scale from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”). Higher
scores indicate higher levels of perfectionism dimensions.
2. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) [17] was used for assessing perceived stress. The
Polish version of the PSS-10 [18] has 10 items (e.g., “In the last month, how often have you
been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?”), with a 5-point response
scale from 0 (“never”) to 4 (“very often”). Higher scores indicate higher levels of
perceived stress.
3. The Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) [19] was used for assessing
well-being. The Polish version of the WEMWBS [20] has 14 items (e.g., “I’ve been feeling
optimistic about the future”), with a 5-point response scale from 1 (“none of the time”) to
5 (“all of the time”). Higher scores indicate higher levels of well-being.

2.4. Statistical Analysis

Jamovi Desktop v. 2.4.11 was used for all statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics and
Pearson correlations between the study variables were calculated. A mediation analysis
with multiple predictors was applied. Estimation used the bootstrap percentiles method
with 5000 samples and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). In this mediation analysis, five
perfectionism traits were the independent variables, stress was the mediator, and well-being
was the dependent variable.

3. Results
Descriptive statistics and internal consistency reliability for the study variables are
presented in Table 1. All measures had acceptable to good internal consistency reliability,
with Cronbach’s alpha from 0.69 to 0.91.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and internal consistency reliability for the variables (n = 253).

Personal Concern over Doubts about Parental Parental

Stress Well-Being
Standards Mistakes Actions Expectations Criticism
Mean 22.81 26.74 11.99 13.14 9.17 22.41 45.09
Standard
5.88 8.94 3.61 5.79 4.49 6.84 9.46
deviation
Minimum 8 9 4 5 4 6 18
Maximum 35 45 20 25 20 39 69
Skewness −0.21 0.01 0.06 0.37 0.78 0.04 −0.03
Kurtosis −0.27 −0.73 −0.38 −0.94 −0.28 −0.11 −0.06
Cronbach’s alpha 0.82 0.91 0.69 0.89 0.85 0.87 0.91

Table 2 presents Pearson correlations between the variables. All perfectionism traits
were positively interrelated (r from 0.23 to 0.77, p < 0.001). All perfectionism traits (except
Personal Standards) were positively associated with stress (r from 0.24 to 0.54, p < 0.001)
and negatively with well-being (r from −0.33 to −0.52, p < 0.001).

Table 2. Pearson correlations between the variables (n = 253).

Personal Concern over Doubts about Parental Parental

Stress Well-Being
Standards Mistakes Actions Expectations Criticism
Personal Standards —
Concern over Mistakes 0.43 *** —
Doubts about Actions 0.23 *** 0.67 *** —
Parental Expectations 0.26 *** 0.46 *** 0.48 *** —
Parental Criticism 0.23 *** 0.50 *** 0.53 *** 0.77 *** —
Stress 0.12 0.54 *** 0.54 *** 0.24 *** 0.34 *** —
Well-being −0.04 −0.52 *** −0.51 *** −0.33 *** −0.44 *** −0.71 *** —
Note. *** p < 0.001.

The mediation analysis results are presented in Table 3.

Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 5 of 9

Table 3. Mediation analysis results with stress as the mediator (n = 253).

95% CI p
Type Effect Estimate SE Beta z
Lower Upper
Personal Standards ⇒ Stress ⇒
Indirect 0.1 0.05 −0.02 0.24 0.06 2 0.045
Well-being
Concern over Mistakes ⇒ Stress ⇒
−0.24 0.05 −0.35 −0.13 −0.22 −4.79 <0.001
Well-being
Doubts about Actions ⇒ Stress ⇒
−0.46 0.11 −0.69 −0.23 −0.17 −4.06 <0.001
Well-being
Parental Expectations ⇒ Stress ⇒
0.14 0.07 −0.01 0.31 0.09 1.92 0.055
Well-being
Parental Criticism ⇒ Stress ⇒
−0.15 0.1 −0.38 0.06 −0.07 −1.48 0.14
Well-being
Component Personal Standards ⇒ Stress −0.13 0.07 −0.30 0.03 −0.11 −2.03 0.042
Stress ⇒ Well-being −0.78 0.07 −0.93 −0.63 −0.56 −10.96 <0.001
Concern over Mistakes ⇒ Stress 0.3 0.06 0.18 0.42 0.4 5.33 <0.001
Doubts about Actions ⇒ Stress 0.59 0.13 0.3 0.87 0.31 4.37 <0.001
Parental Expectations ⇒ Stress −0.18 0.09 −0.39 0.02 −0.16 −1.95 0.051
Parental Criticism ⇒ Stress 0.19 0.13 −0.08 0.47 0.12 1.49 0.136
Direct Personal Standards ⇒ Well-being 0.23 0.07 0.09 0.38 0.15 3.17 0.002
Concern over Mistakes ⇒ Well-being −0.18 0.07 −0.32 −0.05 −0.17 −2.69 0.007
Doubts about Actions ⇒ Well-being −0.07 0.16 −0.41 0.25 −0.03 −0.42 0.675
Parental Expectations ⇒ Well-being 0 0.11 −0.24 0.25 0 0 1
Parental Criticism ⇒ Well-being −0.40 0.14 −0.72 −0.09 −0.19 −2.81 0.005
Total Personal Standards ⇒ Well-being 0.34 0.09 0.16 0.53 0.21 3.78 <0.001
Concern over Mistakes ⇒ Well-being −0.42 0.08 −0.58 −0.25 −0.39 −5.35 <0.001
Doubts about Actions ⇒ Well-being −0.52 0.18 −0.96 −0.12 −0.20 −2.83 0.005
Parental Expectations ⇒ Well-being 0.14 0.13 −0.17 0.46 0.09 1.1 0.27
Parental Criticism ⇒ Well-being −0.54 0.17 −0.93 −0.14 −0.26 −3.16 0.002
Note. Betas are completely standardized effect sizes.

Out of five perfectionism traits acting as the predictors in the multiple regression
analysis, four were statistically significant predictors of well-being (see Table 3, the total
effects, which represent the results of the multiple regression without the mediator in
the model; F(5,247) = 30.61, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.38, adjusted R2 = 0.37). Personal Standards
(beta = 0.21) were a statistically significant positive predictor of well-being, whereas Con-
cern over Mistakes (beta = −0.39), Doubts about Actions (beta = −0.20), and Parental
Criticism (beta = −0.26) were statistically significant negative predictors of well-being.
Controlling for other perfectionism traits, Parental Expectations were not a statistically
significant predictor of well-being (beta = 0.09, p = 0.270).
As for links with stress, controlling for other perfectionism traits, Parental Expectations
(beta = −0.16) and Parental Criticism (beta = 0.12) were not statistically significantly associ-
ated with stress. Conversely, Concern over Mistakes (beta = 0.40) and Doubts about Actions
(beta = 0.31) were statistically significantly positively associated with stress, whereas Per-
sonal Standards (beta = −0.11) were statistically significantly negatively associated with it
(see Table 3, the component; F(5,247) = 29.16, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.37, adjusted R2 = 0.36).
Controlling for stress (see Table 3, the direct effects, which represent the results
of the multiple regression with the mediator in the model; F(6,246) = 56.94, p < 0.001,
R2 = 0.58, adjusted R2 = 0.57), the Personal Standards (beta = 0.15) dimension was a
statistically significant positive predictor of well-being, whereas Concern over Mistakes
(beta = −0.17) and Parental Criticism (beta = −0.19) were statistically significant nega-
tive predictors of well-being. Controlling for stress, Doubts about Actions (beta = −0.03,
p = 0.675) and Parental Expectations (beta = 0.00, p = 1.000) were not statistically significant
predictors of well-being.
The mediation analysis revealed that there were three statistically significant indirect
effects (paths) in the association between perfectionism traits and well-being via stress
as the mediator (see Table 3, the indirect effects). The Personal Standards subscale was
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 6 of 9

associated with higher levels of well-being via decreasing stress levels (p = 0.045), whereas
Concern over Mistakes (p < 0.001) and Doubts about Actions (p < 0.001) were associated
with lower levels of well-being via increased stress levels. Stress did not mediate the
relationship between Parental Expectations and well-being (p = 0.055) or between Parental
Criticism and well-being (p = 0.140).

4. Discussion
This brief report study aimed to explore and clarify unique associations of perfec-
tionism traits with stress and well-being, and to examine the mediation role of stress in
the relationship between perfectionism traits and well-being among students. Overall,
the results supported the utility of Frost et al.’s multidimensional five-factor model of
perfectionism [3,4].

4.1. The Relationship between Perfectionism Traits and Stress, and Well-Being
In bivariate correlational analysis, all perfectionism traits were positively interrelated,
which is in line with previous studies [3,4,21]. The majority of perfectionism traits were
positively associated with stress and negatively with well-being, except the Personal Stan-
dards subscale, which was not associated with stress and well-being. In a more beneficial
statistical approach when controlling for the common variance of perfectionism traits in the
regression analysis, Personal Standards (beta = 0.21) were a statistically significant positive
predictor of well-being, whereas Concern over Mistakes (beta = −0.39), Doubts about
Actions (beta = −0.20), and Parental Criticism (beta = −0.26) were statistically significant
negative predictors of well-being, with Concern over Mistakes being the strongest predictor.
In contrast, Parental Expectations (beta = 0.09) were not a statistically significant predictor
of well-being.
As for links with stress (controlling for other perfectionism traits), Parental Expec-
tations and Parental Criticism were not statistically significantly associated with stress,
whereas other perfectionism traits were statistically significantly associated with it. In a
more comprehensive regression model with all perfectionism traits and controlling for
stress, Personal Standards (beta = 0.15) remained a statistically significant positive predic-
tor of well-being, whereas Concern over Mistakes (beta = −0.17) and Parental Criticism
(beta = −0.19) remained statistically significant negative predictors of well-being. Doubts
about Actions and Parental Expectations were considered statistically insignificant predic-
tors of well-being. Overall, these results indicated that Parental Criticism and Concern over
Mistakes were the most impactful perfectionism traits associated with a decrease in well-
being, whereas Personal Standards seemed to be associated with an increase in well-being.
Given that previous studies have shown that maladaptive perfectionism traits (i.e., Concern
over Mistakes, Doubts about Actions, Parental Expectations, and Parental Criticism) were
positively related to depression, whereas Personal Standards were negatively related to
it [22], these maladaptive perfectionism traits could lead to adverse effects for mental health
and decrease well-being via increasing depression levels. Previous reports also indicated
that perfectionistic concerns were associated with higher academic burnout partially via
repetitive negative thinking, whereas perfectionistic strivings were directly associated with
lower academic burnout [13]. In summation, this current study supported the conclusions
presented in past work regarding the negative role of perfectionistic concerns for mental
health in students and provided new insights on the positive role of the Personal Standards
dimension, which was associated with lower stress and higher well-being in this dataset.
In this study, control for the common variance of perfectionism traits in statistical
analyses (suggested by Piotrowski and Bojanowska [4]) made it possible to reveal the
specific role of individual perfectionism traits in well-being and ill-being. Specifically, the
positive role of Personal Standards was shown in regression models, whereas in a bivariate
correlational analysis, the Personal Standards scores were not correlated with well-being
and ill-being. Therefore, the common variance of perfectionism traits is recommended to be
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 7 of 9

controlled in statistical analysis in order to clarify individual associations of perfectionism

traits with other correlates.

4.2. The Relationship between Perfectionism Traits and Well-Being via Stress
Considering the mediation analysis results, stress statistically significantly mediated
the relationships between three perfectionism traits and well-being. Concern over Mis-
takes and Doubts about Actions were associated with higher stress, which consecutively
enhanced lower well-being. In contrast, Personal Standards were associated with lower
stress, which sequentially enhanced higher well-being. These results are in line with Wang
and Wu’s report [14], which showed that maladaptive perfectionism traits (expressed in
a composite score of Concern over Mistakes, Parental Expectations, and Doubts about
Actions subscales) were associated with lower life satisfaction via higher academic burnout.
Overall, as maladaptive perfectionism traits were associated with higher perceived stress,
their negative role in mental and somatic health could be expressed through enhancing the
physiological activation resulting from the development of chronic stress [23]. Thus, the
assessment of maladaptive perfectionism traits, accompanied by stress, could be beneficial
when providing psychological interventions for students with high levels of maladaptive
perfectionism traits.
The mediation analysis results also indicated that Parental Expectations and Parental
Criticism were not indirectly associated with well-being via stress. It seems that these
two perfectionism traits are associated with lower well-being not through increasing the
perceived stress levels but through other psychological mechanisms (for example, see
van Houtum et al. [24]). In this study, a relatively homogeneous group of students aged
18–30 was recruited; therefore, in this group of young adults, the role of Parental Expecta-
tions and Parental Criticism could be less important than in younger people (or adolescents).
Hence, more diverse samples would be beneficial in future work.

4.3. Practical Implications of the Study

From a practical point of view, the mediation analysis results indicated that the mal-
adaptive role of Concern over Mistakes and Doubts about Actions could be decreased by
reducing perceived stress levels. As perfectionism traits are relatively stable [25,26], psy-
chological interventions could be targeted not only at these traits but also at psychological
distress in order to increase well-being in students with these perfectionism traits fairly
quickly.

4.4. Limitations of the Study

In this cross-sectional study, the mediation model was justified based on past work
and tested in a series of statistical analyses. However, longitudinal data would be more
appropriate for mediation models, as the casual inferences of the study variables’ direction-
ality cannot be determined in this cross-sectional study. In the current sample, the number
of female participants predominated over male participants, and the sample comprised
people aged 18–30; hence, the generalizability of the obtained results is limited. Therefore,
a broader student sample and control for the roles of gender and age in statistical analysis
would be beneficial in future research.

5. Conclusions
In this study, among the five perfectionism traits, common and specific predictors of
well-being and ill-being (i.e., stress) were indicated, and a potential mechanism linking
perfectionism traits with well-being via stress was examined. This was implemented by
controlling for the common variance of perfectionism traits in statistical analysis.
Considering the results of all conducted analyses, Personal Standards were associated
with higher well-being and lower stress, whereas Concern over Mistakes and Doubts
about Actions were associated with lower well-being and higher stress. Moreover, in the
mediation analysis, these three perfectionism traits were associated with well-being via
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 8 of 9

stress. Parental Expectations and Parental Criticism in general were not associated with
stress, and Parental Criticism was associated with lower well-being. Therefore, Personal
Standards, Concern over Mistakes, and Doubts about Actions seem to be parsimonious
psychological targets, whereas Parental Expectations and Parental Criticism seem to be less
important targets within psychological interventions.
The results also supported the utility of Frost et al.’s multidimensional five-factor
model of perfectionism, with the five perfectionism traits showing specific links with stress
and well-being. Therefore, assessing the specific role of individual perfectionism traits
seems to be important, chiefly in order to provide effective and parsimonious psychother-
apeutic approaches for people struggling with high levels of maladaptive perfectionism
traits. This study showed that integrating well-being and ill-being indicators simulta-
neously allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the specific role of individual
perfectionism traits in the mental health outcomes of students. Hence, this approach seems
advantageous for the theory and practice of perfectionism.

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration
of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology of
Kazimierz Wielki University (No. 2/12 January 2021).
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in this study.
Data Availability Statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made
available by the author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments: The author thanks the participants of this study for their efforts.
Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflicts of interest.

References
1. Stoeber, J.; Otto, K. Positive conceptions of perfectionism: Approaches, evidence, challenges. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 2006, 10,
295–319. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
2. Kwarcińska, K.; Sanna, K.; Kamza, A.; Piotrowski, K. Perfectionism in theory and research. Przeglad ˛ Psychol. 2022, 65, 97–112.
[CrossRef]
3. Frost, R.O.; Marten, P.; Lahart, C.; Rosenblate, R. The dimensions of perfectionism. Cogn. Ther. Res. 1990, 14, 449–468. [CrossRef]
4. Piotrowski, K.; Bojanowska, A. Factor structure and psychometric properties of a Polish adaptation of the Frost Multidimensional
Perfectionism Scale. Curr. Psychol. 2021, 40, 2754–2763. [CrossRef]
5. Bieling, P.J.; Israeli, A.L.; Antony, M.M. Is perfectionism good, bad, or both? Examining models of the perfectionism construct.
Pers. Individ. Differ. 2004, 36, 1373–1385. [CrossRef]
6. Stöber, J. The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale revisited: More perfect with four (instead of six) dimensions. Pers.
Individ. Differ. 1998, 24, 481–491. [CrossRef]
7. Limburg, K.; Watson, H.J.; Hagger, M.S.; Egan, S.J. The Relationship Between Perfectionism and Psychopathology: A Meta-
Analysis. J. Clin. Psychol. 2017, 73, 1301–1326. [CrossRef]
8. Lunn, J.; Greene, D.; Callaghan, T.; Egan, S.J. Associations between perfectionism and symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive
disorder and depression in young people: A meta-analysis. Cogn. Behav. Ther. 2023, 52, 460–487. [CrossRef]
9. Curran, T.; Hill, A.P. Young people’s perceptions of their parents’ expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications
for perfectionism. Psychol. Bull. 2022, 148, 107–128. [CrossRef]
10. Achtziger, A.; Bayer, U.C. Self-control mediates the link between perfectionism and stress. Motiv. Emot. 2013, 37, 413–423.
[CrossRef]
11. Suh, H.; Liou, P.Y.; Jeong, J.; Kim, S.Y. Perfectionism, Prolonged Stress Reactivity, and Depression: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged
Analysis. J. Rat-Emo Cogn.-Behav. Ther. 2022. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. Gil, T.C.; Obando, D.; García-Martín, M.B.; Sandoval-Reyes, J. Perfectionism, Academic Stress, Rumination and Worry: A
Predictive Model for Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in University Students from Colombia. Emerg. Adulthood 2023, 11,
1091–1105. [CrossRef]
13. Garratt-Reed, D.; Howell, J.; Hayes, L.; Boyes, M. Is perfectionism associated with academic burnout through repetitive negative
thinking? PeerJ 2018, 6, e5004. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14. Wang, Q.; Wu, H. Associations Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Undergraduate Medical
Students: The Mediating Role of Academic Burnout and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem. Front. Psychol. 2022, 12, 774622.
[CrossRef]
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14, 187 9 of 9

15. Karademas, E.C. Positive and negative aspects of well-being: Common and specific predictors. Pers. Individ. Differ. 2007, 43,
277–287. [CrossRef]
16. Ahmed, I.; Hazell, C.M.; Edwards, B.; Glazebrook, C.; Davies, E.B. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies exploring
prevalence of non-specific anxiety in undergraduate university students. BMC Psychiatry 2023, 23, 240. [CrossRef]
17. Cohen, S.; Kamarck, T.; Mermelstein, R. A global measure of perceived stress. J. Health Soc. Behav. 1983, 24, 385–396. [CrossRef]
18. Juczyński, Z.; Ogińska-Bulik, N. Narz˛edzia Pomiaru Stresu i Radzenia Sobie ze Stresem; Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych
Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego: Warsaw, Poland, 2009.
19. Tennant, R.; Hiller, L.; Fishwick, R.; Platt, S.; Joseph, S.; Weich, S.; Parkinson, J.; Secker, J.; Stewart-Brown, S. The Warwick-
Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health Qual. Life Outcomes 2007, 5, 63.
[CrossRef]
20. Konaszewski, K.; Niesiob˛edzka, M.; Surzykiewicz, J. Factor structure and psychometric properties of a Polish adaptation of the
Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Health Qual. Life Outcomes 2021, 19, 70. [CrossRef]
21. Correia, M.; Rosado, A.; Serpa, S. Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism
Scale. Int. J. Psychol. Res. 2017, 10, 8–17. [CrossRef]
22. Kawamura, K.Y.; Hunt, S.L.; Frost, R.O.; DiBartolo, P.M. Perfectionism, Anxiety, and Depression: Are the Relationships
Independent? Cogn. Ther. Res. 2011, 25, 291–301. [CrossRef]
23. Brosschot, J.F.; Pieper, S.; Thayer, J.F. Expanding stress theory: Prolonged activation and perseverative cognition. Psychoneuroen-
docrinology 2005, 30, 1043–1049. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24. van Houtum, L.A.E.M.; Will, G.J.; Wever, M.C.M.; Janssen, L.H.C.; van Schie, C.C.; Tollenaar, M.S.; Elzinga, B.M. Adolescents’
affective and neural responses to parental praise and criticism. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 2022, 54, 101099. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
25. Franco, K.; Díaz, F.; Torres, P.; Telléz, Y.; Hidalgo-Rasmussen, C. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity
of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Rev. Mex. De Trastor. Aliment. 2014, 5, 91–97. [CrossRef]
26. Gavino, A.; Nogueira, R.; Pérez-Costillas, L.; Godoy, A. Psychometric Properties of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism
Scale in Spanish Children and Adolescents. Assessment 2019, 26, 445–464. [CrossRef]

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual
author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to
people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.