Abstract
Objectives: To explore the phenomenology of self-criticism, and the relationship with constructs such as rumination and perfectionism.
Design: The study followed a three group (Depression, n=26; Eating Disorder, n=26; Nonclinical, n=26) mixed methods design.
Method: Participants completed a set of questionnaires and were interviewed about the occurrence, impact, and content of self-critical thinking, along with their beliefs about self-criticism.
Results: Both clinical groups reported more frequent, persistent, and less controllable self-criticism compared to controls, present on average 50 60% of the time. They reported a negative impact on mood, and a moderately severe impact on daily activities. They indicated greater desire to change self-criticism while judging it more difficult to reduce. Habitual self-criticism was highly correlated with lower self-esteem, lower self-compassion, greater rumination and greater negative perfectionism. Compared to those with depression, the eating disorder group reported harsher self-criticism, felt it was more part of their personality, and was more beneficial.
Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of exploring people’s beliefs about their self-criticism, and imply that treatment for self-criticism may be more challenging with people with eating disorders than people with depression.
Design: The study followed a three group (Depression, n=26; Eating Disorder, n=26; Nonclinical, n=26) mixed methods design.
Method: Participants completed a set of questionnaires and were interviewed about the occurrence, impact, and content of self-critical thinking, along with their beliefs about self-criticism.
Results: Both clinical groups reported more frequent, persistent, and less controllable self-criticism compared to controls, present on average 50 60% of the time. They reported a negative impact on mood, and a moderately severe impact on daily activities. They indicated greater desire to change self-criticism while judging it more difficult to reduce. Habitual self-criticism was highly correlated with lower self-esteem, lower self-compassion, greater rumination and greater negative perfectionism. Compared to those with depression, the eating disorder group reported harsher self-criticism, felt it was more part of their personality, and was more beneficial.
Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of exploring people’s beliefs about their self-criticism, and imply that treatment for self-criticism may be more challenging with people with eating disorders than people with depression.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 751-769 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 31 Jul 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2017 |