College Academic Perfectionism Scale: Development and Validation

Maladaptive perfectionism has a documented association with mental health problems, yet the context of maladaptive perfectionism (i.e., the domain where individuals exhibit such a trait) is rarely considered. This study aimed to develop a measure for academic perfectionism among college students and assess its psychometric properties. Five hundred and thirty-two college students were recruited from introductory-level psychology courses and completed questionnaires online. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses determined the factor structure and model fit of the scale, and bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses assessed the validity of the scale. The results suggested that the College Academic Perfectionism Scale consists of two higher order factors, rigid academic perfectionism and self-critical academic perfectionism, and self-critical academic perfectionism consists of three sub-factors, academic self-criticism, doubts about actions, and socially prescribed academic perfectionism. The scale has an adequate confirmatory model fit, excellent reliability, and high construct validity. Incremental validity over general perfectionism was established.