Inadequacy, the psychopathological component of perfectionism: Validation of the Inadequacy Scale

This study tests a new measure of inadequacy and assesses its reliability and validity on a sample of 227 college students. The Inadequacy Scale (INAD) was compared to 2 measures of perfectionism: the Frost-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (F-MPS) and the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R). The INAD showed equivalent or greater correlations with measures of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and stress as compared to the full-scale measures of the F-MPS and the APS-R, as well as the subsets of their maladaptive components. The INAD was also more highly predictive of depression, anxiety, and stress (and equivalent to the F-MPS on self-esteem) than the maladaptive portions of either the F-MPS or the APS-R. Limitations of this exploratory study and plans for future research are discussed.