How athletes' perception of coach-related critical attitudes affect their mental health? The role of self-criticism

Recent studies have identified symptoms related to the mental disorders in athletes and have highlighted the importance of exploring factors that may contribute to athletes' mental health. The current study examined whether self-criticism operates as a mediator process in the association between athletes’ perceptions of coach-related critical attitudes with depressive symptoms, and psychological health. 263 Portuguese adults, who compete in different sports, and completed self-report instruments on an online survey took part in the study. Path analyses results indicated the credibility of the examined model that accounted for 32% and 28% of the variance of psychological health and depressive symptoms, respectively. Athletes who perceived their coach as more critical in relation to their attitudes and performance reported higher levels of self-criticism, that tended to be linked with more symptoms of depression and lower levels of psychological health. These findings clarified the role of critical attitudes from the coach on athletes’ mental health and indicated that self-criticism is a maladaptive process in dealing with failures. This study offers significant insights into clinical psychology in the context of sport by suggesting that critical attitudes of the coach as perceived by the athletes and self-criticism may associate to negative indicators of mental health.