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The present study examined the relationship between the two central dimensions of perfectionism, Pure Personal Standards (PPS) and Maladaptive Evaluative Concerns (MEC), and psychological distress as well as positive affect. The study also explored two potential mediators, self-concealment (SC) and contingent self-worth (CSW), of the relationship between these perfectionism dimensions and various mental health measures. Participants completed questionnaires assessing perfectionism, the two mediator variables, and a number of measures of mental health, including depression, fear of negative evaluation, positive affectivity, and eating disorder symptomatology. Analyses revealed that extracting out the MEC from PPS perfectionism scores using partial correlations removed the one significant correlation of PPS with psychopathology, and strengthened its positive correlation with well-being. In contrast, the MEC dimension of perfectionism was positively related to psychopathology and negatively related to well-being, even when controlling for PPS scores using partial correlations. Mediational analyses indicated that CSW significantly mediated the relationships between PPS and mental health, including fully mediating the relationship between PPS and each measure of psychopathology. Multiple mediational analyses revealed that SC and/or CSW mediated the relationships between MEC and mental health indices. These findings suggest that the central aspect of perfectionism related to psychopathology is the MEC dimension whereas PPS is more closely associated with positive features of mental health. Findings also suggest that future investigations of the relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology take into consideration the mediating effects of SC and CSW.Portions of this manuscript were presented at the annual meeting of the European Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies,

Early speculation and recent findings have linked perfectionism with a wide variety of disorders, including depression (Blatt, 1995;Hewitt & Dyck, 1986); eating disorders (Bastiani, Rao, Weltzin, & Kaye, 1995); and physical conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome (Pacht, 1984). From the beginning of the 20th century, theorists also have suggested that perfectionism plays a role in the experience of anxiety and anxiety disorders, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Before beginning this review, we discuss the ways in which perfectionism has been defined in the empirical literature.Much of the recent research on perfectionism has been based on conceptualizations that emphasize the multidimensional nature of the construct. Hewitt and Flett (1991b) posited three dimensions of perfectionism on the basis of the locus or target of excessively high expectations: selforiented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and otheroriented perfectionism (for a description, see Flett & Hewitt, chapter 1, this volume). Another conceptualization of perfectionism has focused on distinguishing the setting of high personal standards, which may have both positive and negative ramifications, from excessive concern over making mistakes and doubting the quality of one's actions (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990). This conceptualization envisions five primary dimensions of perfectionism. Concern Over Mistakes reflects the degree to which a person will interpret mistakes as indicators of failure, respond negatively to mistakes, and assume that others would also evaluate their mistakes negatively. Doubts About Actions measures how confident people are about their ability to complete tasks. Parental Expectations and Parental Criticism are related to one's perceptions that one's parents set extremely high standards and were overly critical of one's efforts, respectively. The Personal Standards dimension indicates the degree to which people set excessive standards for themselves and base their selfevaluation on their ability t o achieve those standards. A sixth dimension of perfectionism (Organization) is ancillary. Organization reflects the tendency to place importance on order, organization, and orderliness.Both conceptualizations of perfectionism have been accompanied by the development of a multidimensional measure Hewitt