{
  "abstract": "We examined the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Perfectionism (CBT-P) for children delivered as an online 6-session guided parent-delivered intervention (GP-CBT-P). We conducted a two-arm randomised controlled trial comparing GP-CBT-P to waitlist for parents whose child was aged 7–12 and had elevated perfectionism. Primary outcomes were feasibility and acceptability; secondary outcomes were self-reported parental and child perfectionism, school satisfaction, happiness, stress, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, and weight/shape concern. Assessment occurred at baseline (T1), 9- (T2, end of the intervention) and 18-weeks (T3) post-randomization. There were 89 enquiries over 14 months; 49 (54%) converted to randomisation (25 in GP-CBT-P, 24 in waitlist), and 60% of parents in the intervention group completed all 6 sessions. There were no differences between groups at baseline. Intent-to-treat analysis showed parents in GP-CBT-P had significantly lower levels of perfectionism at T2 and T3 than control (respective between groups effect sizes [ES] and 95% confidence intervals [CI] of 0.95 [0.37 to 1.53] and 0.65 [0.08 to 1.21]). Compared to control, children receiving GP-CBT-P reported significantly higher school satisfaction and academic self-efficacy, and lower stress, depression and weight/shape concerns; T3 ES ranged from 0.58 to 0.82. There were no significant differences between groups on child perfectionism. GP-CBT-P could benefit from strategies to enhance feasibility and acceptability given it promoted helpful change across parent and child self-reported outcomes. Reducing parental perfectionism may be a key driver of beneficial change in children. Further investigation with larger samples and longer-term follow-up is recommended.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Flinders University Institute of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia",
    "Enable Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia",
    "Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia",
    "Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, England"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tracey D. Wade",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4402-770X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Sarah J. Egan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3715-4009"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Maya Jabs",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-8369-1086"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Madelaine de Valle",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2166-0908"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Roz Shafran",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2729-4961"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c3cwxbeq7q4q2.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1007/s00787-026-03131-2",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13710591/",
  "id": "c3cwxbeq7q4q2",
  "issns": [
    "1018-8827",
    "1435-165X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03131-2",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7168122773",
  "pdf_url": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00787-026-03131-2.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13710591",
  "pmid": "42440146",
  "published": "2026-07-13",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c3cwxbeq7q4q2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:31Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13710591",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03131-2"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:3203|Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A randomised controlled feasibility trial of guided parent-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for children’s perfectionism",
  "title_text": "A randomised controlled feasibility trial of guided parent-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for children’s perfectionism",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:31Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c3cwxbeq7q4q2",
  "venue": "European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry",
  "versions": []
}