One factor? Two factor? Bi-factor? A psychometric evaluation of the Frost Multidimensional Scale and the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

The construct of perfectionism has been argued to consist of two factors, perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings. Though perfectionistic concerns are consistently associated with adverse outcomes, the evidence for perfectionistic strivings is mixed. Item cross-loadings of the two-factor model of perfectionism raise questions about whether the two factors assess both common and distinct aspects of perfectionism. The present study aimed to clarify the structure of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and the Clinical Perfectionism Scale, by comparing single-factor, two-factor, and bifactor models in a community sample (N = 397). Findings provided greater support for the bifactor model, relative to the two-factor or one-factor models, for the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and the Clinical Perfectionism Scale. In each bifactor model, the general factor was positively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, while the perfectionistic strivings group factor was negatively associated with depression. Results suggest the bifactor model best represents the structure of perfectionism and provide additional support for the use of a general factor score in clinical treatment and research examining perfectionism.

KEYWORDS:

• Perfectionism
• perfectionistic
• strivings
• concerns
• bifactor model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1. A second configuration of the FMPS was used based on the recommended calculation for the FMPS-brief (Burgess et al., 2016), with 4 items from CM subscale and 4 items from PS subscale, to reflect perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings, respectively. See supplementary materials.