Author(s): WANG, Q., WANG, L., ZHENG, C., TSE, C., SUN, F., Institution: THE EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, Country: HONG KONG, Abstract-ID: 621

Purpose:
Perfectionism, a psychological trait characterized by high standards and strict self-regulation in the pursuit of excellence and flawless performance, is composed of multiple dimensions. As a typical aesthetic sport, artistic swimming requires athletes to constantly seek a perfect balance among collective consistency, physical expressiveness, and technical completion. Compared with the general population, artistic swimmers need to pursue excellence and have extremely high demands for perfectionism. Therefore, artistic swimmers are more prone to developing perfectionist tendencies and face more complex and persistent psychological pressure. In recent years, research on the relationship between perfectionism and mental health in the general population has been increasing. However, current research on how the various dimensions of perfectionism affect athletes' mental health is still insufficient, particularly among artistic swimmers. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between the five dimensions of perfectionism and artistic swimmers' sports motivation, psychological fatigue, and anxiety.

Methods:
A total of 99 artistic swimmers were recruited from the national and provincial artistic swimming teams in China. The perfectionism was assessed by the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS). The psychological states of the participants were measured using tools including the Short Form Anxiety Scale (SSAI), the Athlete Psychological Fatigue Questionnaire (ABQ), and the Sports Motivation Scale (SMS). The relationships between the various dimensions of perfectionism and the psychological states of the athletes (such as anxiety, psychological fatigue, and sports motivation) were analyzed via descriptive statistical analysis and Pearson correlation analysis.

Results:
The dimension of worry about errors was positively correlated with the negative anxiety (r = 0.279, p < 0.01), whereas it had no correlation with exercise motivation and psychological fatigue.
The dimension of organization was positively correlated with internal exercise motivation (r = 0.253, p < 0.01), and it was negatively correlated with the sense of achievement (r = -0.268, p < 0.01) and psychological fatigue (r = -0.227, p < 0.01).
The dimension of personal standards was positively correlated with internal exercise motivation (r = 0.271, p < 0.01), and it was negatively correlated with the sense of achievement (r = -0.262, p < 0.01).
The dimension of action doubts was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion (r = 0.244, p < 0.01), whereas it was positively correlated with negative anxiety (r = 0.293, p < 0.01).
The dimension of parental expectations was not correlated with anxiety, psychological fatigue, and exercise motivation (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion:
The adaptive perfectionism dimensions (organization, personal standards) were significantly correlated with positive psychological outcomes, while the non-adaptive dimensions (fear of mistakes, action doubts) were closely associated with negative psychological states. The parental expectation dimension did not show a significant influence on psychological states of artistic swimmers. These findings provide empirical evidence for the psychological training of artistic swimmers. Future interventional studies should consider adopting differentiated strategies for different dimensions of perfectionism, that is, strengthening the adaptive dimensions while mitigating the negative effects of non-adaptive dimensions.