The Role of Metacognition in the Prediction of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Chronically Ill Patients

Overview

Journal J Clin Med

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 Apr 9

PMID 38592170

Authors

Agata Kolodziejczyk

Julia Krawczyk

Elzbieta Tkaczyszyn-Mika

Julia Gniewczynska

Michal Ziarko

Dorota Zozulinska-Ziolkiewicz

Tomasz Pawlowski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases are frequent causes of depression and anxiety. The study explored the metacognitive beliefs manifested by chronically ill patients and the presence of depressive or anxiety symptoms and the predictive role of metacognition in both.

Methods: A total of 254 chronically ill patients participated in the study. The Metacognitive Questionnaire was used to measure the patients' metacognitive beliefs, whereas the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was applied to evaluate their psychopathological symptoms. A correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationships between metacognition and psychopathological symptoms. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive role of metacognition in anxiety and depression.

Results: The Negative Beliefs about Uncontrollability and Danger scale correlated with both anxiety and depression scales, and the Cognitive Confidence scale correlated with the depression scale. Linear regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs were responsible for 32.2% of the variance of anxiety symptoms among all the chronically ill. Metacognitive beliefs accounted for 48.8% of the variance in anxiety symptoms and 36.6% in depressive symptoms among diabetes patients.

Conclusions: There are specific correlations between psychopathological symptoms and metacognition among chronically ill patients. Metacognitions have a moderate role in developing and sustaining anxiety and depressive symptoms.

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