Extant studies have examined the impact of criticism on psychiatric symptomology in athletes. Further, the direct impact of criticism on athletes` mental health has yet to be explored while considering sociocultural factors. The current study sought to examine the influence of self-criticism and teammate-criticism during training and competition on psychiatric symptoms in 131 NCAA athletes. Participants were administered the Sport Interference Checklist (SIC; Donohue et al., 2007) to examine criticism of self and teammates during competition and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1994) to examine severity of psychiatric symptoms. Linear Regression showed increased self-criticism (p <.001) and criticism of teammates (p <.05) predicted increased severity of psychopathology. Moderation analyses examining ethnicity suggested psychiatric symptoms in athletes of the global majority are more negatively impacted by self-criticism than White athletes. Gender and age did not moderate the relationship between criticism and psychiatric symptoms.
© Copyright 2026 International Journal of Sport Psychology. University of Tor Vergata. All rights reserved.