Development and validation of the ambiguous scenario task for perfectionistic concerns for university students

Interpretation biases (IBs) are found in a range of psychological disorders, and the transdiagnostic role of IBs has gained increasing attention. Among the variants, IBs of perfectionism (e.g., interpreting a trivial error as equivalent to complete failure) are understood to be a central transdiagnostic phenotype. Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct and the dimension of perfectionistic concerns has been found to be most closely related to psychopathology. Therefore, capturing IBs that are specifically related to perfectionistic concerns (not perfectionism in general) is of particular importance in studying pathological IBs. Thus, we developed and validated the Ambiguous Scenario Task for Perfectionistic Concerns (AST-PC) to be used in university students. We created two versions of the AST-PC and administered each version to one of two independent student samples (i.e., Version A to n = 108 and Version B to n = 110). We then examined the factor structure and associations with established questionnaires of perfectionism, depression, and anxiety. The AST-PC showed good factorial validity, confirming the hypothesized three-factor structure: perfectionistic concerns, adaptive, and maladaptive (but not perfectionistic) interpretations. The interpretations related to perfectionistic concerns showed good correlations with questionnaires of perfectionistic concerns, depressive symptoms, and trait anxiety. Additional validation studies are required to establish the temporal stability of the task scores and their sensitivity to experimental induction and clinical intervention. Additionally, IBs of perfectionism should be investigated within a broader transdiagnostic context. The AST-PC demonstrated good psychometric properties. Future applications of the task are discussed. •Ambiguous Scenario Task for Perfectionistic Concerns (AST-PC) was developed.•The AST-PC assesses interpretation biases (IBs) related to perfectionistic concerns.•Confirmatory factor analyses showed good factorial validity for the AST-PC.•The IBs correlated with dispositional perfectionism, depression, and anxiety.•The AST-PC may be useful to study perfectionistic IBs as a transdiagnostic factor.