Is My Child A Perfectionist?

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So how can you tell if your child is a perfectionist? Take this quick survey to see where your child falls along the perfectionism scale.

Signs & symptoms of perfectionism checklist

Put a checkmark next to each behavior and/or trait that accurately describes your child:

_____ Easily worked up over little things; gets upset when something isn’t the way they feel it should be.

_____ Overly controlling; has to have things done their way.

_____ Uncomfortable when others take the lead; wants to be in charge or they’re reluctant to participate at all.

_____ If they don’t feel they’ll be good at something, they’re reluctant to even try.

_____ Extremely competitive, even on things that aren’t normally competitive in nature.

_____ Overly hard on themselves when they make mistakes or underperform.

_____ Gets hung up around minor details or flaws in their work/performance that most people wouldn’t notice or consider a problem.

_____ Procrastinates or seems to drag out projects in an effort to ensure they are perfect.

_____ Often has trouble making decisions; gets hung up around choices or options.

_____ Regularly wants to re-do work and/or question the merit of a finished project.

_____ Doesn’t want to let things go: hangs on to tasks until they can get it just right.

_____ More anxious and stressed over everyday tasks than other kids their age seem to be..

Now it’s time to tally up the score for your child, counting up each box you checked.

2 or less:  Usually does not indicate a problem.
3 to 4:  Your child could have a moderate to mild case if perfectionism.
5 to 7:  Indicative of a perfectionist problem that needs to be looked into.
8 or more:  Yikes!  Time for an intervention.

Keep in mind that this is not a clinical survey, and a lot depends not just on the overall number of symptoms they exhibit, but they types of symptoms and their severity. Nonetheless, this is a list of common traits exhibited by perfectionists, and the more of these traits your child exhibits,  the more likely it is there is a problem.

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