Perfectionism, Anxiety, and Depression among Postgraduate Students and Faculty at a Public University in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that underlies anxiety and depression in all diagnostic categories, though there is little empirical research from academic settings in South Asia. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between multidimensional perfectionism, anxiety and depression, as well as comparison of perfectionism between postgraduate students and faculty members of a public university in the northwest region of Pakistan. A total of 163 participants (97 postgraduate students and 66 faculty members) from the University of Malakand were recruited through proportionate stratified random sampling and completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Overall, 38.7% and 42.3% of participants had moderate to severe anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Perfectionism was positively associated with both anxiety (r = .229, 95% CI [.08, .37], p = .003) and depression (r = .188, 95% CI [.04, .33], p = .016); dimension-level and demographic-adjusted regression analyses identified socially prescribed perfectionism as the only dimension with a unique association with both outcomes. Anxiety and depression were strongly correlated (r = .607, 95% CI [.50, .70], p < .001). There was no significant difference between students and faculty on perfectionism, t(161) = 0.54, p = .593, d = 0.09, although students reported significantly higher anxiety (p = .034) and depressive symptoms (p < .001) than faculty. Results confirm the significance of perfectionism, particularly socially prescribed perfectionism, for emotional distress in the collectivistic academic culture and indicate high anxiety–depression comorbidity in a largely unstudied academic group. Practically, the findings support embedding perfectionism-focused cognitive-behavioral components within institution-wide, transdiagnostic mental health services for both students and faculty in Pakistani higher education.