Complexities of measuring perfectionism: Three popular perfectionism measures and their relations with eating disturbances and health behaviors in a female college student sample

The present study investigated the relationships between three popular measures of perfectionism [the Eating Disorders Inventory — Perfectionism scale (EDI-P), the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS)] and measures of eating disturbances and health behaviors, in a sample of 248 female college students. Results indicated that the adaptiveness or maladaptiveness of certain perfectionism dimensions should still be questioned. Also, self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism (from the MPS) were consistently found to be the most important predictors of both eating disturbances and health behaviors. Surprisingly, scores on the EDI-P were not found to be significant predictors of eating disturbances when FMPS and MPS scores were included in regression analyses. Implications of the present findings are discussed.