The relationship between perfectionism and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students: The mediating roles of self-compassion and impostor syndrome

Using a longitudinal research approach, we assessed 1865 college students twice with a six-month interval to reveal the underlying mechanism of perfectionism in depressive symptoms. After controlling for gender, age, and family income, significant direct effects of positive and negative perfectionism on depressive symptoms were verified. At the same time, self-compassion and impostor syndrome acted as mediators of this relationship. Specifically, positive perfectionism acted as a protective factor on depressive symptoms through the chain structure of two self-compassion dimensions and impostor syndrome. Negative perfectionism was a risk factor for depressive symptoms through the chain structure of negative self-compassion and impostor syndrome. The results above indicated the contrasting effects of the two dimensions of perfectionism and self-compassion on depressive symptoms.