Does Perfectionism Affect Parental Identity Development? A One-Year Longitudinal Study.

Introduction: Previous studies have revealed that perfectionism and identity development during adolescence are related. However, no longitudinal study has been conducted on the impact of perfectionism on identity development in adulthood. In the present study, we analyzed for the first time the longitudinal relationship between personal standards, an indicator of perfectionistic strivings, and concern over mistakes and doubts about actions, indicators of perfectionist concerns, and identity development in one of the most important yet least understood domains for adults, parental identity.

Methods: This 1-year, three-wave longitudinal study investigated reciprocal relationships between perfectionism and parental identity among 1275 parents (aged 18-30, M = 26.11; SD = 3.00). We analyzed the results using cross-lagged panel model analysis and random-intercept cross-lagged panel model analysis.

Results: The results revealed that personal standards were associated with a relative increase in seeking in-depth information about parenthood, and doubts/concerns were associated with a relative increase in disappointment and parenthood regret. Parental identity was not reciprocally related to changes in perfectionism at the between-person level. However, we observed the effect of parental identity on the decrease in personal standards at the within-person level.

Conclusion: The results suggest mutual relationships between perfectionism and parental identity at the between-person and within-person levels.