Spanish validation of the child and adolescent perfectionism scale: Factorial invariance and latent means differences across sex and age

Abstract

The present study analyzed the psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the child–adolescent perfectionism scale (CAPS-S), as well as its factorial invariance and latent means differences across sex and age. A sample of 1809 Spanish students of Primary Education, aged between 8 and 11 (Mage = 9.53, SD = 1.11), was used. Confirmatory factor analyses and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were applied to examine the factor structure of the CAPS-S. The results revealed that a model made up of 13 items structured in 3 factors—Self-Oriented Perfectionism-Striving (SOP-Striving), Self-Oriented Perfectionism-Critical (SOP-Critical), and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism (SPP)—showed a better fit than any of the previously tested models, and it was invariant across sex and age. SOP-Striving did not significantly correlate with school anxiety and aggression, whereas significant and positive correlations were found in the case of SOP-Critical and SPP. The levels of reliability and stability of the scale were ω = 0.91, 0.74, 0.73, and 0.80, and rxx = 0.73, 0.62, 0.73, and 0.74, for the total CAPS-S and for the SOP-Striving, SOP-Critical, and SPP dimensions, respectively. Analysis of latent means differences revealed that boys scored significantly higher than girls in SOP-Critical. The 9-year-olds scored significantly lower in SPP than their 8-year-old peers. Conversely, 11-year-olds scored higher in SOP-Critical than 8-year-olds. In addition, 10-and 11-year-olds scored higher than their 9-year-old peers. The CAPS-S presented in this research is a reliable and valid instrument to assess perfectionism in Spanish child population.