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ViewAttendees 5

Individual Oral Paper

Treatment - Mindfulness & Acceptance

Innovations in Anxiety Diagnosis and Treatment

6 - (IOP 37) A Randomized Controlled Trial of Self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Perfectionism

Friday, November 21, 2025
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Empire D, Level 2
Keywords: ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy), CBT, Self-Help
Recommended Readings: Ong, C. W., Lee, E. B., Krafft, J., Terry, C. L., Barrett, T. S., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22, 100444. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JOCRD.2019.100444,   Egan, S. J., van Noort, E., Chee, A., Kane, R. T., Hoiles, K. J., Shafran, R., & Wade, T. D. (2014). A randomised controlled trial of face to face versus pure online self-help cognitive behavioural treatment for perfectionism. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 63, 107–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BRAT.2014.09.009,   Ardakani, M. T., Akbari, B., Hossein Khanzade, A. A., & Moshkbide Haghighi, M. (2019). Comparing the Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Perfectionism of Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Internal Medicine Today, 26(1), 24–37. https://doi.org/10.32598/HMS.26.1.3093.1,   ,  
The prevalence of perfectionism is increasing in undergraduate students, highlighting the need to expand accessible treatment options for this population. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are effective interventions for perfectionism, but have yet to be examined when delivered in a bibliotherapy format. This randomized controlled trial (NCT06057740) assessed the efficacy of ACT and CBT self-help books for perfectionism compared to a waitlist control. University students with high perfectionism (N = 110) were randomized to ACT (n = 37), CBT (n = 37), or waitlist (n =36). Participants completed self-report assessments at pre-, mid-, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. Analyses were run with multilevel linear modeling with the intent-to-treat sample. Participants assigned to ACT and CBT showed significantly improved perfectionism, psychological inflexibility, cognitive reappraisal, well-being, and stress, compared to the waitlist participants. There were no significant differences between ACT and CBT on perfectionism, cognitive reappraisal, well-being, and stress, except for psychological inflexibility scores, where ACT demonstrated stronger improvements in psychological inflexibility scores compared to the CBT and waitlist conditions over time. No intervention effects were found for anxiety or depression. The high adherence rates and satisfaction ratings indicate bibliotherapy for individuals with perfectionism is a feasible intervention. Bibliotherapy for perfectionism may be effective in reducing perfectionistic symptoms, potentially increasing access to evidence-based interventions for perfectionism among undergraduate students.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe the efficacy of ACT and CBT bibliotherapy for perfectionism and its potential for increasing access to evidence-based interventions among university students.