The relation of physical appearance perfectionism with body dissatisfaction among school students 9-18Â years of age

•The Physical Appearance Perfectionism Scale was validated in school students.•Physical appearance perfectionism did not show gender difference.•Worry about imperfection (WAI) increases over school years for both boys and girls.•Hope for perfection (HFP) increases over school years for girls only.•WAI explained variance in more variables of body dissatisfaction than HFP.

Physical appearance perfectionism is a domain-specific form of perfectionism comprising two components: worry about imperfection and hope for perfection (Yang & Stoeber, 2012). Previous studies found that physical appearance perfectionism is related to body dissatisfaction among university students, particularly the worry about imperfection component, but did not address the question of whether physical appearance perfectionism changes over school years and explains variance in body dissatisfaction above age and body mass index (BMI). The present study investigated the questions examining 914 school students 9-18 years of age. Physical appearance perfectionism increases over school years and it explained a significant additional variance in body dissatisfaction beyond age group and BMI. Some gender differences were identified and limitations and implications were discussed.