The effects of maladaptive parenting and insecure attachment on the development of perfectionism in children and adolescents : a 2-year longitudinal mediation analysis

Perfectionism is a multidimensional and multifaceted personality construct requiring the self to be perfect or appear to be perfect. It is a personality vulnerability factor to a host of clinical and non-clinical problems. However, to date, not much is known about how perfectionism develops. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) proposes a developmental framework for perfectionism. It posits that perfectionism arises from an asynchrony between the parent and the child. Asynchrony happens when a parent’s responsiveness and nurturance do not align with a child’s needs, and this can occur when caregivers engage in maladaptive parenting styles. Repeated experiences of asynchrony are theorized to give rise to attachment insecurities and foster perfectionism. The PSDM has received some empirical support, but most studies were conducted on adults and used a cross-sectional design. To address these research gaps, the current study employs a longitudinal design over a period of 2 years to investigate how perfectionism develops in children and adolescents aged 8 to 15 years. The general goal of the study is to determine whether maladaptive parenting styles and insecure attachment are developmental antecedents of perfectionism. Specifically, the primary aim of the study is to test a specific developmental pathway outlined by the PSDM, which posits that insecure attachment mediates the relationship between maladaptive parenting and perfectionism. To achieve this, 107 parent-child dyads were recruited and asked to complete self-reported measures of parenting, attachment, and perfectionism at three time points, each spaced approximately one year apart. Study findings showed that maladaptive parenting and insecure attachment were associated with perfectionism concurrently and longitudinally. More importantly, parental psychological control directly predicted perfectionism, and uninvolved parenting indirectly contributed to perfectionism through insecure attachment, two years later. Exploratory analyses of specific paths in the mediation models showed that the mediation pathway likely did not vary by gender or age. The results provide both theoretical and clinical implications, offering empirical support for the PSDM while identifying areas for refinement. Furthermore, study results lay the groundwork for informing practical interventions to support children and adolescents with perfectionism.