The impact of self-criticism and teammate criticism in sport competition on collegiate athletes’ mental health

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Linnea Bacon and Brad Donohue

Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

Citation

Bacon, L., Donohue, B. (2025). The impact of self-criticism and teammate criticism in sport competition on collegiate athletes’ mental health. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 56(6), 551-573. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2025.56.551

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Self-criticism, Criticism of Teammates, Psychopathology, Ethnicity, Gender

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