European Psychiatry (Apr 2021)

The portuguese version of the big three perfectionism scale – further validation with adults from the general population

  • J. Oliveira,
  • A.T. Pereira,
  • A. Araujo,
  • C. Cabaços,
  • J. Azevedo,
  • F. Carvalho,
  • A. Macedo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.1188
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 64
pp. S445 – S445

Abstract

Read online

Introduction Both original Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS; Smith et al. 2016), and the Portuguese version validated with a sample of university students (Lino et al. 2018) evaluates three second-order factors (rigid, self-oriented and narcissistic perfectionism) and ten facets. Objectives To confirm the BTPS three-factors-ten-dimensions’ structure in a sample of Portuguese adults from the general population. Methods A sample of 467 adults (70.7% females; Mean age=38.44±12.27; range: 25-82) answered the BTPS Portuguese version and other validated perfectionism measures (Multidimensional Perfectionism Scales from Frost and Hewitt & Flett; Self-Presentation Perfectionism Scale). To study the temporal stability a sub-sample of 132 participants completed the BTPS again after approximately five weeks. SPSS and AMOS software was used. Results The second order model presented an acceptable fit (X²/df=3.115; TLI=.811; CFI=.825; RMSEA=.067). There was also evidence of a general factor comprising all the 45 items (X²/df=3.127; TLI=.809; CFI=.823; [JA1] RMSEA=.068). The Cronbach alphas of the three factors ranged from a=.88 to a=.92; and facets had a>.70 showing a total of a=.94. Total and dimensional scores showed significant positive and moderate to high correlations with the other perfectionism measures and their test-retest correlation coefficients were r=.85 (p<0.001). Conclusions This study confirms the validity and reliability of the Portuguese BTPS underlying three-factors structure. Additionally, we found, for the first time, that BTPS can also be validly and reliably used to measure a global perfectionism construct. It is our intention to develop a shorter version the Portuguese BTPS in the near future.

Keywords