Longitudinal effects of an intervention on perfectionism in adolescents

Perfectionism is a personality disposition characterized by a person's striving for flawlessness and the setting of excessively high performance standards. This trait has been associated with a broad range of psychopathological conditions. Consequently, prevention of its harmful effects must start early. Objective: To investigate if one group session to manage perfectionism has the effect of reducing the levels of this trait, two and six months later. Method: A community-based sample of 978 Portuguese adolescents from three different high schools completed a self-reporting questionnaire including the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, before and after one skill session. Three groups were formed: the intervention group received a skill session aimed at reducing perfectionism; control group 1 received a skill session aimed at healthy habits, and control group 2 received no intervention. Results: At baseline, no significant mean differences were found by gender or by school in Total Perfectionism or its dimensions. After one session to manage Perfectionism, the intervention group showed significant reduction in self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) scores, two months (p = .001) and six months later (p = .02). No significant reductions were observed in the control groups. Discussion: Our findings suggest that adolescents are sensitive to short interventions aimed at reducing perfectionism. Keywords: Adolescents, personality, perfectionism. Efectos a largo plazo de una intervencion sobre el perfeccionismo en adolescentes. Perfeccionismo es un rasgo de la personalidad caracterizado por la lucha por la perfeccion y la fijacion de normas de rendimiento excesivamente altas. Se ha asociado con una amplia gama de condiciones psicopatologicas. En consecuencia, la prevencion de sus efectos nocivos debe comenzar temprano. Objetivo: investigar si una sesion para manejar el perfeccionismo puede reducir los niveles de este rasgo, dos y seis meses mas tarde. Metodo: una muestra comunitaria de 978 adolescentes, de tres secundarias, respondio a un cuestionario de auto-reporte incluyendo la Escala de Perfeccionismo Infantil y Adolescente antes y despues de una sesion. El grupo de Intervencion recibio una sesion orientada a reducir el perfeccionismo. El grupo control 1 una sesion sobre habitos saludables y el grupo control 2 no recibio intervencion. Resultados: al inicio, no se encontraron diferencias significativas de medias por genero y por escuela. Despues de una sesion p