A considerable literature now shows that perceived criticism (PC) predicts clinical outcomes transdiagnostically. Recent work has begun to identify potential mechanisms underlying PC’s connection to clinical outcomes. For example, anomalies have been found in neural processing when individuals who rate their key relatives as highly critical listen to criticism. To explore whether high-PC individuals are also characterized by other processing abnormalities, we examined cognitive processing in a sample of community participants ( N = 76) high or low on PC. We measured the executive control of attention when these two groups of individuals processed emotional information and interpreted acoustically presented ambiguous words. High-PC individuals showed impaired executive control of negative emotional information relative to low-PC individuals. They also made more negative interpretations of ambiguous words. These findings indicate that PC is associated with underlying vulnerabilities that may predispose individuals to develop psychopathology.

References

Amir, N., Bower, R., Briks, J., Freshman, M. ( 2003 ). Implicit memory for negative and positive social information in individuals with and without social anxiety . Cognition & Emotion, 17, 567 – 583 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Amir, N., Prouvost, C., Kuckertz, J. M. ( 2012 ). Lack of a benign interpretation bias in generalized social phobia . Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 41, 119 – 129 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

Baker, S. L., Heinrichs, N., Kim, H. J., Hoffman, S. G. ( 2002 ). The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale as a self-report instrument: A preliminary psychometric analysis . Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 701 – 715 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Ball, R., Ranieri, W. ( 1996 ). Comparison of Beck Depression Inventories–IA and –II in psychiatric outpatients . Journal of Personality Assessment, 67, 588 – 597 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Brown, G. K. ( 1996 ). Manual for Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). San Antonio, TX : Psychology Corporation .

Google Scholar

Bredemeier, K., Berenbaum, H., Most, S. B., Simons, D. J. ( 2011 ). Links between neuroticism, emotional distress, and disengaging attention: Evidence from a single-target RSVP task . Cognition & Emotion, 25, 1510 – 1519 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Breiter, H. C., Etcoff, N. L., Whalen, P. J., Kennedy, W. A., Rauch, S. L., Buckner, R. L., . . . Rosen, B. R. ( 1996 ). Response and habituation of the human amygdala during visual processing of facial expression . Neuron, 17, 875 – 887 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Browning, M., Holmes, E. A., Charles, M., Cowen, P. J., Harmer, C. J. ( 2012 ). Using attentional bias modification as a cognitive vaccine against depression . Biological Psychiatry, 72, 572 – 579 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Bruhl, A. B., Rufer, M., Delsignore, A., Kaffenberger, T., Jancke, L., Herwig, U. ( 2011 ). Neural correlates of altered general emotion processing in social anxiety disorder . Brain Research, 1378, 72 – 83 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Butler, G., Mathews, A. ( 1983 ). Cognitive processes in anxiety . Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 5, 51 – 62 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Chambless, D. L., Blake, K. D. ( 2009 ). Construct validity of the Perceived Criticism Measure . Behavior Therapy, 40, 155 – 163 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Chambless, D. L., Blake, K. D., Simmons, R. A. ( 2010 ). Attributions for relatives’ behavior and perceived criticism: Studies with community participants and patients with anxiety disorders . Behavior Therapy, 41, 388 – 400 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Chambless, D. L., Steketee, G. ( 1999 ). Expressed emotion and behavior therapy outcome: A prospective study with obsessive-compulsive and agoraphobic outpatients . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 658 – 665 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Costa, P. T., McCrae, R. R. ( 1992 ). Revised NEO Personality Inventory and NEO Five-Factor Inventory professional manual. Odessa, FL : Psychological Assessment Resources .

Google Scholar

Davidson, R. J. ( 2000 ). Affective style, psychopathology, and resilience: Brain mechanisms and plasticity . American Psychologist, 55, 1196 – 1214 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Dearing, K. F., Gotlib, I. H. ( 2009 ). Interpretation of ambiguous information in girls at risk for depression . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 79 – 91 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

El Khoury-Malhame, M., Reynaud, E., Soriano, A., Michael, K., Salgado-Pineda, P., Gellato, C., . . . Khalfa, S. ( 2011 ). Amygdala activity correlates with attentional bias in PTSD . Neuropsychologia, 49, 1969 – 1973 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Fals-Stewart, W., O’Farrell, T. J., Hooley, J. M. ( 2001 ). Relapse among married or cohabiting substance-abusing patients: The role of perceived criticism . Behavior Therapy, 32, 787 – 801 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., Posner, M. I. ( 2002 ). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks . Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340 – 347 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Finn, C., Mitte, K., Neyer, F. J. ( 2013 ). The relationship-specific interpretation bias mediates the link between neuroticism and satisfaction in couples . European Journal of Personality, 27, 200 – 212 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Guada, J., Hoe, M., Floyd, R., Barbour, J., Brekke, J. S. ( 2011 ). The importance of consumer perceived criticism on clinical outcomes for outpatient African Americans with schizophrenia . Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 637 – 645 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hahlweg, K., Goldstein, M. J., Nuechterlein, K. H., Maganã-Amato, A. B., Mintz, J., Doane, J., . . . Snyder, K. S. ( 1989 ). Expressed emotion and patient–relative interaction in families of recent-onset schizophrenics . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 11 – 18 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hertel, P. T., Mathews, A. ( 2011 ). Cognitive bias modification: Past perspectives, current findings, and future applications . Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 521 – 536 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Hirsch, C. R., Mathews, A. ( 2000 ). Impaired positive inferential bias in social phobia . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 705 – 712 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hooker, C. I., Gyurak, A., Verosky, S. C., Miyakawa, A., Ayduk, O. ( 2010 ). Neural activity to a partner’s facial expression predicts self-regulation after conflict . Biological Psychiatry, 67, 406 – 413 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hooley, J. M. ( 2007 ). Expressed emotion and relapse of psychopathology . Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 3, 329 – 352 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hooley, J. M., Parker, H. A. ( 2006 ). Measuring expressed emotion: An evaluation of the shortcuts . Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 386 – 396 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hooley, J. M., Siegle, G., Gruber, S. A. ( 2012 ). Affective and neural reactivity to criticism in individuals high and low on perceived criticism . PLoS ONE, 7(9), e44412 . Retrieved from http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044412

Google Scholar

Hooley, J. M., Teasdale, J. D. ( 1989 ). Predictors of relapse in unipolar depressives: Expressed emotion, marital distress, and perceived criticism . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98, 229 – 235 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Kane, M. J., Engle, R. W. ( 2002 ). The role of prefrontal cortex in working-memory capacity, executive attention, and general fluid intelligence: An individual-differences perspective . Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 637 – 671 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Kwon, J. H., Lee, Y., Lee, M. S., Bifulco, A. ( 2006 ). Perceived criticism, marital interaction and relapse in unipolar depression: Findings from a Korean sample . Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 13, 306 – 312 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Liebowitz, M. R. ( 1987 ). Social phobia . Modern Problems of Pharmacopsychiatry, 22, 141 – 173 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline

MacLeod, C., Mathews, A. ( 1991 ). Biased cognitive operations in anxiety: Accessibility of information or assignment of processing priorities . Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29, 599 – 610 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Mogg, K., Bradbury, K. E., Bradley, B. P. ( 2006 ). Interpretation of ambiguous information in clinical depression . Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1411 – 1419 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Mogg, K., Philippot, P., Bradley, B. P. ( 2004 ). Selective attention to angry faces in clinical social phobia . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 160 – 165 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Murray, G., Rawlings, D., Allen, N. B., Trinder, J. ( 2003 ). NEO Five-Factor Inventory scores: Psychometric properties in a community sample . Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 36, 140 – 149 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Ochsner, K. N., Bunge, S. A., Gross, J. J., Gabrieli, J. D. ( 2002 ). Rethinking feelings: An fMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion . Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 1215 – 1229 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Ochsner, K. N., Gross, J. J. ( 2005 ). The cognitive control of emotion . Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 242 – 249 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Peterson, K. M., Smith, D. A. ( 2010 ). To what does perceived criticism refer? Constructive, destructive, and general criticism . Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 97 – 100 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Peterson, K. M., Smith, D. A., Windle, C. R. ( 2009 ). Explication of interspousal criticality bias . Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 478 – 486 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Posner, M. I., Petersen, S. E. ( 1990 ). The attention system of the human brain . Annual Review of Neuroscience, 13, 25 – 42 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Renshaw, K. D. ( 2008 ). The predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity of perceived criticism: A review . Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 521 – 534 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Scott, J., Colom, F., Pope, M., Reinares, M., Vieta, E. ( 2012 ). The prognostic role of perceived criticism, medication adherence and family knowledge in bipolar disorders . Journal of Affective Disorders, 142, 72 – 76 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Smith, D. A., Peterson, K. M. ( 2008 ). Overperception of spousal criticism in dysphoria and marital discord . Behavior Therapy, 39, 300 – 312 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Sprong, M., Schothorst, P., Vos, E., Hox, J., Van Engeland, H. ( 2007 ). Theory of mind in schizophrenia: Meta-analysis . British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 5 – 13 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Tompson, M. C., Goldstein, M. J., Lebell, M. B., Mintz, L. I., Marder, S. R., Mintz, J. ( 1995 ). Schizophrenic patients’ perceptions of their relatives’ attitudes . Psychiatry Research, 57, 155 – 167 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Tottenham, N., Tanaka, J., Leon, A. C., McCarry, T., Nurse, M., Hare, T. A. ( 2009 ). The NIMSTIM set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants . Psychiatry Research, 168, 242 – 249 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Tully, L. M., Lincoln, S. H., Hooker, C. I. ( 2012 ). Impaired executive control of emotional information in social anhedonia . Psychiatry Research, 197, 29 – 35 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI