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Transitioning to university may be especially difficult for students who expect perfection from themselves. Self-critical perfectionism has consistently been linked to poor mental health. The current study compares a diathesis-stress and a downward-spiral model to determine why self-critical perfectionism is detrimental for mental health during this transition. First-year students ( N = 658) were recruited before beginning university in August and contacted again in October, January, and April. Participants completed measures on perfectionism, stress, and depressive symptoms. Evidence was found for a downward-spiral model with self-critical perfectionism but not a diathesis-stress model. Students higher in self-critical perfectionism were more likely to experience increased stress and depressive symptoms in a circular and additive manner. Conversely, students higher in personal-standards perfectionism experienced less stress and subsequent depressive symptoms. This research provides a theoretical model for why self-critical perfectionism is related to poor mental-health outcomes that become sustained over time.

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Parents and teachers play an important role in stimulating student motivation. The aim of this study was to examine if both parent and teacher enthusiasm could predict intrinsic motivation toward STEM activities, and if motivation would be associated with improved STEM achievement over one year in a one-year prospective examination of 288 Swedish students in their final year of a Science High School program (143 females and 145 males). Surveys of parent and teacher enthusiasm were collected at baseline, and student intrinsic motivation and GPA in STEM were assessed at baseline and at the end of the year. Baseline GPA and intrinsic motivation as well as follow-up intrinsic motivation were significantly associated with later GPA. Finally, intrinsic motivation mediated the relation between teacher and parent enthusiasm and change in GPA. Findings show the importance of parent and teacher enthusiasm for adolescent's intrinsic motivation and achievement in STEM.