Perfectionism and its relation to overevaluation of weight and shape and depression in an eating disorder sample

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative association between psychopathology (depression and overevaluation of weight and shape) and measures of perfectionism and self-criticism in an eating disorder sample. METHOD: Participants (n = 39) completed measures of independent variables (perfectionism and self-criticism) and dependent variables (depression and overevaluation of weight and shape). RESULTS: Simultaneous multiple regression analyses suggest that clinical perfectionism has a unique association with depression. Self-criticism and clinical perfectionism had a stronger association with overevaluation of weight and shape than other measures of perfectionism. DISCUSSION: Clinical perfectionism and self-criticism may be of more relevance than existing measures of multidimensional perfectionism in terms of explaining maintenance of depression and overevaluation of weight and shape.