Relations between perfectionism and obsessive–compulsive symptoms: Examination of specificity among the dimensions

There is longstanding interest in a purported relation between perfectionism and Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but many previous studies have either inconsistently measured one of the constructs or not accounted for shared distress variance. These two studies investigated whether different measures of perfectionism showed unique correlations with obsessive–compulsive symptoms after accounting for depression and the cognitive domain of responsibility/threat estimation, which both are related strongly to OCD. Contrary to previous research, results were that both measures of perfectionism evidenced significant unique correlations with OCD beyond variance contributed by the other predictors. Further, the strength of association was substantially greater than the (statistically significant) perfectionism–depression partial correlation. Conversely, content conceptualized as “adaptive” perfectionism showed no correlation with any obsessive–compulsive symptoms, but had a significant negative correlation with depression. Possible reasons for both convergence and discrepancy with previous research are discussed.