Perfectionism and worry in children: The moderating role of mothers’ parenting styles

Past research has primarily focused on the main effect of perfectionism on worry among children and neglected potential moderating processes. The purpose of the present study is to examine the moderating effects of mothers’ parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles) in the association between self-oriented perfectionism and worry among children in Hong Kong. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 292 children (142 female, 48.6%) aged between 8–12 years ( M = 9.60, SD = 0.68) completed a self-report questionnaire. The results of a hierarchical moderated regression analysis revealed that mothers’ authoritative and permissive parenting styles significantly moderated the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and worry. Specifically, mothers’ authoritative parenting exhibited a buffering effect while mothers’ permissive parenting exhibited a strengthening effect. No significant moderating effect was found for mothers’ authoritarian parenting. These findings suggest that interventions targeting authoritative parenting practices may be effective in ameliorating the impact of children’s self-oriented perfectionism on worry.