PERFECTIONISM AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE KENNETH G. RICE AND BROOKE A. LEEVER University of Florida CHAD A. NOGGLE AND DANIEL K. LAPSLEY Ball State University The Adaptive / Maladaptive Perfectionism Scale (AMPS; K.G. Rice & K.J. Preusser, 2002) was developed on samples of 9- to 11-year-old children. A primary purpose of the current research was to examine whether the AMPS could be useful in studies of adolescents, and in particular, studies of adolescent depression. This study of 145 early adolescents revealed (1) a somewhat different AMPS factor structure than has been evident in studies of younger children; (2) no significant mean differences between boys and girls on perfectionism, although girls were sig- nificantly more depressed than boys; (3) a pattern of perfectionism-depression correlations that differed somewhat between boys and girls; and (4) several interactions of different dimensions of perfectionism in accounting for depression. Results are discussed by addressing differences between children and adolescents in school cultures, physical and psychological changes from childhood to adolescence, and the importance of considering the positive as well as the negative aspects of perfectionism among school-age children. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Professionals in school settings work in environments in which high performance expecta- tions are consistently present. Students are expected to work to the best of their abilities, teachers are concerned with providing the best learning experiences they can, and administrators might be concerned with overall performance of their school as indicated by standardized test scores. Coun- selors and psychologists in school settings might be especially attuned to performance demands, and psychological consequences of those demands, on students and other members of the school community. One potentially useful construct for helping school service personnel understand the consequences of high academic performance demands on students is perfectionism. As Ashby and Kottman (2000) note, the school environment is an ideal setting to examine perfectionism in its various forms and with its various presumed consequences (see also Rice & Leffert, 1997). Perfectionism has been variously defined and there exists some controversy around the con- ceptual as well as operational definitions of perfectionism (Cox, Enns, & Clara, 2002; Enns & Cox, 2002; Flett & Hewitt, 2002b; Hewitt, Flett, Besser, Sherry, & McGee, 2003; Shafran, Coo- per, & Fairburn, 2002, 2003; Stöber, 1998). One controversial conceptualization of perfectionism challenges the notion that perfectionism is invariably maladaptive (Chang, 2003). According to this view, the maladaptive form of perfectionism emphasizes excessively high standards for per- formance and flawlessness, self-punitive reactions to perceived inadequacies in reaching or main- taining expected levels of performance, and social or interpersonal experiences that foster or exacerbate self-criticism and characterological despair (Blatt, 1995; Flett & Hewitt, 2002b; Slaney, Rice, & Ashby, 2002). This form of perfectionism, despite being operationalized in various ways, seems consistently associated with psychological impairment, including, but not restricted to, depression, suicidal ideation and tendencies, anxiety, and eating disorders (Blatt, 1995; Chang, Watkins, & Banks, 2004; Flett & Hewitt, 2002a; Goldner, Cockell, & Srikameswaran, 2002). In contrast, the adaptive form of perfectionism has been conceptualized as high personal expectations or standards, conscientious orientation to tasks and performance, preferences for order and organization, and a persistent striving for excellence, all of which occur in a personal / psychological and interpersonal environment of low criticism and negativity, and high support and Correspondence to: Kenneth G. Rice, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail: kgr1@ufl.edu Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 44(2), 2007 © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/pits.20212 139