People's perceptions of criticism from another individual, known as perceived criticism (PC), have been found to predict symptom course, treatment outcome, and future relapse across a number of disorders, including depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and schizophrenia. Some recent studies, however, have yielded conflicting results, making the overall pattern of findings difficult to interpret. This article reviews the findings on PC and presents a framework for understanding them, focused on predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity. The following questions are addressed: (1) What conclusions can be drawn about the prospective relationship of PC with symptom fluctuation and treatment response across disorders? (2) Does it matter whom respondents rate in terms of PC? (3) Is PC a valid construct for individuals from non-Western cultures? (4) Does the fact that the typical measure of PC consists of only 1 item limit its utility? (5) Is PC best viewed as an accurate reflection of another person's critical behavior, another index of overall satisfaction in an interpersonal relationship, some intraindividual variable (e.g., general sensitivity to criticism), or some combination of these factors? Based on the answers to these and other questions, recommendations for clinical practice and future research related to PC are made.
