Reexamination of Factor Structure and Differential Correlates of the Short Almost Perfect Scale-8

There’s debate concerning whether perfectionism could be conceptualized as a form of psychopathology (internalizing or externalizing processes) or a psychological construct. These studies examined scores on the Short Almost Perfect Scale-8 (SAPS-8, Rice et al., 2014 Journal of Personality Assessment) and addressed this concern in perfectionism literature. The SAPS-8 is used to measure perfectionism as a psychological construct with two dimensions: Standards and Discrepancy. Study 1 (N = 358 undergraduates) examined empirical evidence for the factor structure (dimensions) and internal consistency reliability of the short form SAPS-8. Moreover, internal consistency reliability estimates were examined for the SAPS-8 and the original 23-item Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R) scale scores. In Study 2 (N = 267 undergraduates), the transdiagnostic model was adopted to examine the differential correlates of the SAPS-8 dimensions. We used established self-report measures of perfectionism (i.e., the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), psychopathology (i.e., the Symptom Assessment-45), and measures of uncertainty, fear of negative evaluation, and suicide-related behaviors as concurrent measures. Reliability estimates were excellent (α > 0.80) for each scale score. The correlations between the SAPS-8 dimensions and the concurrent scale scores were low to high (rs ~ − 0.00 to 0.75). The results showed that the Discrepancy dimension is positive and moderate to strongly correlated with the scores on the measure of psychopathology (rs ~ 0.30 to 0.53). The findings further suggested that not all personality disorder scale scores [FMPS] were significantly associated with Standards and Discrepancy. Importantly, the results of the differential correlates can be valuable for understanding targeted interventions for the correlates of the specific dimensions.