Mediating role of social skills in the longitudinal relationship between intrapersonal perfectionism and psychological well-being of preadolescents

Intrapersonal perfectionism is the dispositional tendency to impose perfectionistic expectations on oneself and is considered a bidimensional construct that consists of standards perfectionism and discrepancy perfectionism. Although scholars established the links between standards perfectionism and psychological adjustment and between discrepancy perfectionism and psychopathology, the mechanisms that explain these associations remain relatively unknown. Thus, a better understanding of these mechanisms, especially in children, is warranted given their high prevalence in this developmental population and potential destructiveness on psychological wellbeing. The present study examined whether social skills with peers mediated the link between the dimensions of interpersonal perfectionism and psychological outcomes due to the salience of social skills acquisition in middle childhood. The study included 225 students (nfemale = 114; nmale = 111) with ages ranging from 7 to 10 years at Time 1 (T1; Mage = 8.55, SD = 1.15) and from 8 to 11 years at Time 2 (T2; Mage = 9.52, SD = 1.10). Participants provided responses on measures concerning standards perfectionism, discrepancy perfectionism, social skills, and psychological well-being at both time points. Longitudinal structural equation modeling indicated that standards perfectionism was positively associated with increases in social skills over time and psychological well-being, whereas discrepancy perfectionism was linked with decreases in social skills over time followed by psychological maladjustment. The study discusses implications for interventions and treatments.