Metacognitive self-assessment scale: psychometric properties and clinical implications

Abstract

Metacognition is a higher-order psychological construct that has been conceptualized as the ability to identify and describe mental states, beliefs, and intentions of self and others. The Metacognition Self-Assessment Scale (MSAS), was developed to assess different functions of metacognition, being a potential asset in fields such as psychotherapy and clinical neuropsychology. However, a reliability and validity study is still lacking, as well, the study with other related metacognitive constructs. This research describes the psychometric analysis of the MSAS in a crosssectional design and the study of the relationship between metacognitive functions, meta-beliefs and cognitive fusion. The sample comprised 194 participants from the general population (76% women), with an average age of 32 years old. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach alpha, testretest, and validity procedures through bivariate correlations with convergent/divergent measures were conducted. The scale showed satisfactory psychometric properties with good internal consistency along with appropriate convergent/divergent validity. Metacognition and cognitive fusion were negatively correlated, while negative meta-beliefs and mastery predicted the variance of cognitive fusion. Decentering-differentiation factor correlated negatively with cognitive fusion and personal discomfort. These results suggest that MSAS may be a reliable tool to assess metacognition in the Portuguese population. Clinical implications are discussed.

Relationships between emotional processing difficulties and early maladaptive schemas on the regulation of psychological needs

“…This may be added to the exploration of dysfunctional life patterns and schema dialogues (Young et al, 2003), for example, to identify and differentiate the abandonment/instability , emotion deprivation , and defectiveness schemas and to frame those schemas in a coherent manner within a patient's life experiences and history (identification, differentiation, integration and develop meaning). Thus, these processes may be viewed as compounds of metacognition (Faustino, Vasco, Oliveira, Lopes, & Fonseca, 2019), which may be fostered by a wide range of therapeutic strategies (Dimaggio, Montano, Popolo, & Salvatore, 2015). Another example may be to use the empty chair task to work with unfinished business when this marker emerges (Greenberg, 2015).…”

Metacognitive Rating Scale: A Study Applying a Korean Translation to Individuals with Schizophrenia

“…Further, in another study, the people with mental illness symptoms had higher dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs than the healthy people [ 29 ]. Given these findings, determining the degree of dysfunctional metacognition is useful for understanding people with schizophrenia [ 30 ].…”

Metacognitive Abilities as a Protective Factor for the Occurrence of Psychotic-Like Experiences in a Non-clinical Population

“…Studies using this perspective show that metacognitive beliefs involving worry and intrusive thoughts promote and maintain delusional and hallucinatory experiences in clinical and non-clinical populations (Larøi and Van Der Linden, 2005 ; García-Montes et al, 2006 ; Barkus et al, 2010 ). S-REF focuses on “thinking about thinking” declined into worry and rumination outcomes, this construct of metacognition is assessed with Metacognitive Questionnaire (MCQ; Cartwright-Hatton and Wells, 1997 ; Wells and Cartwright-Hatton, 2004 ), and this instrument is oriented to evaluate mental contents rather than mental functions (Faustino et al, 2021 ). The Metacognitive Multi-Function Model (MMFM; Semerari et al, 2003 ) intends metacognition as “the whole set of abilities that allows us to understand mental phenomena and work them out in order to tackle tasks and master mental states that are a source of subjective sufferance” (Carcione et al, 1997 ; Carcione and Falcone, 1999 ).…”

“…In addition, the model identifies different metacognitive functions as follows: monitoring is the ability to detect emotion and thoughts forming mental states, integration is the ability to reflect on mental states and processes due to sorting them in a hierarchy of importance, which permit individuals to behave coherently with their own purposes, differentiation is the ability to differentiate between different classes of representation (e.g., dreams, fantasies, and beliefs) and between representations and reality, recognizing their subjectivity, and decentration is the ability to define mental states of others by forming hypothesis and mastery that is the use of psychological information to cope with problems of different levels of complexity. In comparison with the model suggested by Wells and Matthews, authors keep the subdivision into monitoring and regulating abilities and concentrate on the functional ability to perform certain operations, rather than on the contents (Faustino et al, 2021 ). Another important point about PLEs is their relationship with general psychopathology.…”