Perfectionism

Perfectionism is defined as striving for unrealistically high goals, combined with a strong self-deprecation when mistakes are made. Previous studies have shown that perfectionism is associated with a variety of mental disorders.  However, there have been very few studies to date on whether and how perfectionism contributes causally to the development and maintenance of mental disorders. We are investigating these questions in various research projects. We are also investigating how perfectionism influences the success of therapy and have developed and/or validated various measurement instruments for perfectionism.

Current research project:

Perfectionism as a transdiagnostic process: Investigation of perfectionism as a risk factor for several types of psychopathology

Funding: DFG

Project participants: Nathalie Claus (LMU, Munich), Thomas Ehring (LMU, Munich)

Principal investigator: Barbara Cludius (University of Bremen)

Cooperation partners: Karina Limburg (LMU, Munich), Roz Shafran (University College London), Sarah Egan (Curtin University Perth), Keisuke Takano (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba)

To date, it is unclear (a) whether and how perfectionism increases the general risk of psychopathology and (b) how perfectionism can lead to different specific disorders (e.g. OCD in one person and bulimia in another). Therefore, we are interested in investigating possible factors between the transdiagnostic risk factor perfectionism and symptoms of OCD or eating disorders. Within this project, we are conducting a prospective longitudinal study over twelve months (https://osf.io/39nx7/) and two experimental studies (https://osf.io/s45tu/). Within the experimental studies, we manipulate excessive responsibility as a specific factor for OCD and dissatisfaction with the body as a specific factor for eating disorders. We test the influence of perfectionism in relation to the respective factors on the development of symptoms of OCD and eating disorders.

Publications

1. Claus, N., Miegel, F., Jelinek, L., Landmann, S., Moritz, S., Külz, A. K., Rubel, J., & Cludius, B. (2023). Perfectionism as Possible Predictor for Treatment Success in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Metacognitive Training as Third-Wave Treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10361-0

2. Cludius, B., Hummel, J., Limburg, K., Woud, M. L., & Takano, K. (2023). Development and validation of the ambiguous scenario task for perfectionistic concerns for university students. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 79, 101811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101811

3. Hummel, J.*, Cludius, B.*, Woud, M. L., Holdenrieder, J., Mende, N., Huber, V., Limburg, K., & Takano, K. (2023). The causal relationship between perfectionism and negative affect: Two experimental studies. Personality and Individual Differences, 200, 111895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111895 [*geteilte Erstautorenschaft]

4. Cludius, B., Landmann, S., Külz, A.-K., Takano, K., Moritz, S., & Jelinek, L. (2022). Direct and indirect assessment of perfectionism in patients with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. PLOS ONE, 17(10), e0270184. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270184

5. Roth, I., Cludius, B., Egan, S. J., & Limburg, K. (2021). Evaluation of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the German version of the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire: The CPQ-D. Clinical Psychology in Europe, 3(2), e3623. https://doi.org/10.32872/cpe.3623

6. Miegel, F., Moritz, S., Wagener, F., Cludius, B., & Jelinek, L. (2020). Self-esteem mediates the relationship between perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Personality and Individual Differences, 167, 110239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110239