Background
The term Metacognition refers to the psychological processes that are involved in the way a person controls, modifies, and appraises his own thoughts [1]. Maladaptive metacognitions have been related to the development and maintenance of psychological disorder [2, 3]. The Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) is a multidimensional instrument for assessing metacognitions, composed of five factors: cognitive confidence, positive beliefs about worry, cognitive self consciousness, negative beliefs about worry and need to control thoughts [4]. Psychometric properties of the MCQ-30 have been well documented [4] suggesting that it is a valid instrument that has already been used in clinical research with several psychiatric disorders.
Materials and methods
223 undergraduate medical students from the Athens University Medical School (57.4 % females), aged 18-33, and 30 resident psychiatrists were administered the Greek versions of the following self-report instruments:
The MCQ-30, a 30-item questionnaire that measures a person's metacognitive processes.
The Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), a 20-item measure used to assess anxiety proneness.
The Meta-worry Subscale of the "Anxious Thoughts Inventory", a 7-item scale that assesses a person's process worry dimension.
Results
Factor structure of the MCQ-30 5 factors were extracted using principal component analysis with equamax rotation, leading to a factor solution similar to the original non-clinical sample.
Reliability
The greek version of the MCQ-30 had good internal consistency, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability (as measured on a sample of 30 resident psychiatrists).
Convergent validity
The MCQ-30 presented good convergent validity with adequate correlation coefficients with both the STAI-T and the Meta-worry subscale.
Conclusions
The Greek version of the MCQ-30 is a valid self-report instrument with good psychometric properties. Factor analysis of the MCQ-30 indicates an acceptable construct validity of the questionnaire in a Greek sample.
References
Corcoran K, Segal Z: Metacognition in depressive and anxiety disorders: current directions. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. 2008, 1: 33-44. 10.1521/ijct.2008.1.1.33.
Wells A: Emotional disorders and metacognition: Innovative cognitive therapy. 2000, Chichester, UK: Wiley
Wells A, Matthews G: Attention and emotion: A clinical perspective. 1994, Hove, UK: Erlbaum
Wells A, Cartwright-Hatton S: A short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire: Properties of the MCQ-30. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2004, 42: 385-396. 10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00147-5.
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Typaldou, M., Nidos, A., Roxanis, I. et al. Psychometric properties of the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) in a Greek sample. Ann Gen Psychiatry 9 (Suppl 1), S103 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-9-S1-S103
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-9-S1-S103