Although perfectionist orientations have been linked to a variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates in youth sport, little is known about antecedent factors that may influence adolesc

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Perfectionism and Perceptions of Parenting Styles in Male Youth Soccer (2011) · doi

  Although perfectionist orientations have been linked to a variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates in youth sport, little is known about antecedent factors that may influence adolescent athletes' perfectionist orientations.

  Keywords: perfectionist orientations linked variety cognitive affective behavioral correlates youth sport little known antecedent factors influence
• A Short Prospective Study on Multidimensional Perfectionism and Coping in Adolescents (2026) · doi

  Despite the growing literature addressing multidimensional perfectionism and coping, longitudinal studies on adolescents are scarce and have focused primarily on self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism, leaving other-oriented perfectionism underexamined.

  Keywords: perfectionism oriented despite growing literature addressing multidimensional coping longitudinal adolescents scarce focused primarily self socially
• Exploring Exercise Dependence and Perfectionism across Age (2026) · doi

  The study has several limitations. Its cross-sectional design prevents causal inference regarding the directionality of associations between perfectionism and exercise dependence. Using self- report measures introduces the possibility of shared method variance and response bias. As the present analysis represents a secondary use of data collected for a broader academic project, potentially relevant constructs were not included. The sample, although heterogeneous in exercise limiting generalizability. Future studies should examine these associations in adolescent and emerging adult populations using appropriately defined and sufficiently powered samples, as developmental differences in self-regulation and reward sensitivity may shape vulnerability to involvement, was not representative of the general population, 347 I. Canjuga, M. Pomper, M. Višić and I. Lončarić Kelečić maladaptive exercise patterns in distinct ways. Finally, the Burns’ Perfectionism Scale primarily captures maladaptive perfectionism, preventing differentiation between adaptive and maladaptive dimensions. CONCLUSION The present study examined the association between exercise dependence and perfectionism in a Croatian sample of physically active individuals, while considering age as a developmental context for these behavioural patterns. Three key findings emerged. First, exercise dependence was positively associated with perfectionism. Second, age showed a small negative trend in relation to exercise dependence, although the association did not reach statistical significance, while its relationship with perfectionism was also not statistically significant. Third, the association between exercise dependence and perfectionism remained after controlling for age. Regression analyses further indicated that each construct was independently associated with the other, explaining a modest proportion of variance, whereas the contribution of age was minimal. These findings support a dimensional interpretation of exercise dependence as embedded within broader personality and regulatory systems rather than as an isolated behavioural phenomenon. Taken together, the results underscore the importance of approaching excessive exercise within an interdisciplinary framework that integrates personality traits and behavioural regulation processes. Such a perspective may inform more targeted preventive and educational strategies in physically active populations. REFERENCES [1] Hausenblas, H.A. and Mann, D.T.Y.: Exercise Addiction. Journal of Addictive Behaviors and Therapy 1(2), No. 10, 2017, [2] Marques, A., et al.: Prevalence of Risk for Exercise Dependence: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine 49(2), 319-330, 2019, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S40279-018-1011-4, [3] Berczik, K., et al.: Exercise addiction: symptoms, diagnosis, epidemiology, and etiology. Substance Use & Misuse

  Keywords: exercise perfectionism dependence maladaptive association behavioural associations using self variance present broader sample populations developmental