The impact of perfectionism on treatment outcomes of mental health disorders: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
Zhaohong Jiang, Sarah J Egan, Danyelle Greene et al.
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In 30 seconds
This systematic review examined whether perfectionism predicts treatment outcomes in randomised controlled trials of mental health disorders. It included 16 trials with 2,197 participants; 15 assessed the association between baseline perfectionism and primary disorder outcomes across eating, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, depressive, and body dysmorphic disorders. Nine of those 15 studies (56%) linked higher baseline perfectionism with poorer outcomes, five (38%) found no significant association, and one (6%) reported mixed findings. Overall, results were mixed, with negative associations reported in several studies.
Key findings
- Nine of 15 studies (56%) found higher baseline perfectionism associated with poorer treatment outcomes.
- Five of 15 studies (38%) found no significant association; one (6%) reported mixed findings.
- Four out of five studies involving children and adolescents reported negative impacts of baseline perfectionism.
Why it matters
The review suggests perfectionism may be relevant to treatment progress for some people, but its prognostic value is not consistent across disorders or studies. Recognising this variability can help clinicians consider perfectionism as a possible factor when outcomes are limited, without assuming it predicts response for every patient.
What to keep in mind
Some included studies had high risk of bias, and the review did not conduct meta-analyses.