The metacognitions about smoking questionnaire : development and psychometric properties

The Metacognitions about Smoking Questionnaire was shown to possess good psychometric properties, as well as predictive and divergent validity within the populations that were tested. The metacognition factors explained incremental variance in smoking behaviour above smoking outcome expectancies

A systematic review of treatments for Impulse Control Disorders and related behaviours in Parkinson's Disease

Impulse Control Disorders (ICDs) are a set of behaviours characterised by impulsivity despite known harm. Related to ICDs is the dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS), which is characterised by an addiction-like consumption of dopaminergic medication and punding. These behaviours all have an increased prevalence in Parkinson׳s disease (PD). The aim of this review is to identify treatments available for patients suffering from ICDs, DDS and punding in PD. Searches of The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Embase, Medline and PsychInfo were conducted, using the entire timescale available. Seven out of the 688 papers retrieved met the inclusion criteria and were considered in this systematic review. One class I study, one class II study, and five class IV studies were identified. All studies demonstrated a positive effect on ICDs in PD. Research in this field is still in its early stages. At present, there is insufficient evidence to recommend any treatment over another. There is a need for more methodologically robust research, using larger, more generalisable samples, randomisation and meaningful follow-up periods. In addition, the use of a validated outcome measures should be implemented in future research efforts

The role of metacognition in self-critical rumination: an investigation in individuals presenting with low self-esteem

Background: No research, to date, has directly investigated the role of metacognition in self-critical rumination and low self-esteem. Aim: To investigate the presence of metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination; the goal of self-critical rumination and its stop signal; and the degree of detachment from intrusive self-critical thoughts. Method: Ten individuals reporting both a self-acknowledged tendency to judge themselves critically and having low self-esteem were assessed using metacognitive profiling, a semi-structured interview. Results: All participants endorsed both positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination. Positive metacognitive beliefs concerned the usefulness of self-critical rumination as a means of improving cognitive performance and enhancing motivation. Negative metacognitive beliefs concerned the uncontrollability of self-critical rumination and its negative impact on mood, motivation and perception of self-worth. The primary goal of engaging in self-critical rumination was to achieve a better or clearer understanding of a given trigger situation or to feel more motivated to resolve it. However, only four participants were able to identify when this goal had been achieved, which was if the trigger situation were not to occur again. Participants unanimously stated that they were either unable to detach from their self-critical thoughts or could do so some of the time with varying degrees of success. More often than not, though, self-critical thoughts were viewed as facts, would rarely be seen as distorted or biased, and could take hours or days to dissipate. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence that specific facets of metacognition play a role in the escalation and perseveration of self-critical rumination

A metacognitive model of procrastination

BACKGROUND: procrastination refers to the delay or postponement of task or decision-making initiation or completion and is often conceptualised as a failure of self-regulation. Recent research has suggested that metacognitions play a role in procrastination and that unintentional procrastination (UP), as opposed to intentional procrastination (IP), may be the most problematic form of this behaviour. We aimed to test a metacognitive model of procrastination that was grounded in the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model. METHODS: a convenience sample of 400 participants were recruited and completed (at least partially) a battery of online questionnaires that measured IP and UP, metacognitions about procrastination, depression, and Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS) configurations. Initially, we tested series of hypotheses to establish the relationships between the experimental variables and to test whether CAS configurations would independently predict UP when controlling for age, depression, IP, metacognitions about procrastination, and whether an individual reported that they had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. RESULTS: CAS configurations, depression, and metacognitions independently predicted UP. Additionally, path analysis revealed that the study data was an excellent fit to the proposed metacognitive model of procrastination. LIMITATIONS: the study is cross-sectional. CONCLUSIONS: the metacognitive model of procrastination presented in this paper can be used to generate novel interventions to treat this problematic behaviour

The COVID-19 Anxiety Syndrome Scale : development and psychometric properties

Abstract The central aim of our study was to widen the mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and evaluating a measure that could be used to identify the presence of anxiety syndrome features associated with COVID-19. In Study 1, a community sample of 292 participants completed the newly developed COVID-19 Anxiety Syndrome Scale (C-19ASS) and results were subjected to a Principal Components Analysis. An 11-item two-factor structure was identified. In Study 2, a community sample of 426 participants completed a battery of questionnaires including the C-19ASS. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed on the C-19ASS. A 9-item two-factor structure was confirmed. Results also indicated that the C-19ASS has acceptable levels of reliability and concurrent validity. The C-19ASS perseveration factor was found to explain an additional 9.3% variance in COVID-19 anxiety, and additional 2.2% variance in work and social adjustment (functional impairment), over and above all other variables. The C-19ASS appears to be a reliable and valid measure of the COVID-19 anxiety syndrome. The implications of these findings are discussed

The contribution of metacognitions and attentional control to decisional procrastination

Earlier research has implicated metacognitions and attentional control in procrastination and self-regulatory failure. This study tested several hypotheses: (1) that metacognitions would be positively correlated with decisional procrastination; (2) that attentional control would be negatively correlated with decisional procrastination; (3) that metacognitions would be negatively correlated with attentional control; and (4) that metacognitions and attentional control would predict decisional procrastination when controlling for negative affect. One hundred and twenty-nine participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21, the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the Decisional Procrastination Scale. Significant relationships were found between all three attentional control factors (focusing, shifting, and flexible control of thought) and two metacognitions factors (negative beliefs concerning thoughts about uncontrollability and danger, and cognitive confidence). Results also revealed that decisional procrastination was significantly associated with negative affect, all measured metacognitions factors, and all attentional control factors. In the final step of a hierarchical regression analysis only stress, cognitive confidence, and attention shifting were independent predictors of decisional procrastination. Overall these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model of psychological dysfunction. The implications of these findings are discussed