TY - JOUR
T1 - Metacognitions about alcohol use in problem drinkers
AU - Spada, Marcantonio M.
AU - Wells, Adrian
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Spada, M.M. and Wells, A. (2006), Metacognitions about alcohol use in problem drinkers. Clin. Psychol. Psychother., 13: 138-143. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.478, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.478. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - In this study 10 patients with problem drinking behaviour were assessed using a semi-structured interview to investigate (a) whether they held positive and/or negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use, (b) whether alcohol use was perceived to have an impact on negative emotions, (c) whether alcohol was used as a coping strategy, and if so what its main goal was, (d) how individuals knew whether they had achieved their goal and what signalled the cessation of using and (e) how alcohol use impacted on self-consciousness. All patients endorsed positive metacognitive beliefs and six endorsed negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use. Positive metacognitive beliefs concerned the usefulness of alcohol as an emotional, cognitive and image self-regulation tool. Negative metacognitive beliefs concerned uncontrollability and harm. Seven patients indicated that during a drinking episode negative emotions subsided. Nine out of ten patients stated that alcohol was used as a coping strategy and that its main goal was to reduce negative emotions and/or improve mood. However, nine out of ten patients also reported that they did not know how to determine whether they had achieved their goals. Instead the signal for stopping use came from being sick and/or blacking out. All patients reported that alcohol use helped to reduce self-consciousness. The results support a metacognitive conceptualization in which problem drinking is supported by disruptions of metacognitive monitoring and control. The conceptual implications for understanding problem drinking from a metacognitive perspective are discussed.
AB - In this study 10 patients with problem drinking behaviour were assessed using a semi-structured interview to investigate (a) whether they held positive and/or negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use, (b) whether alcohol use was perceived to have an impact on negative emotions, (c) whether alcohol was used as a coping strategy, and if so what its main goal was, (d) how individuals knew whether they had achieved their goal and what signalled the cessation of using and (e) how alcohol use impacted on self-consciousness. All patients endorsed positive metacognitive beliefs and six endorsed negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use. Positive metacognitive beliefs concerned the usefulness of alcohol as an emotional, cognitive and image self-regulation tool. Negative metacognitive beliefs concerned uncontrollability and harm. Seven patients indicated that during a drinking episode negative emotions subsided. Nine out of ten patients stated that alcohol was used as a coping strategy and that its main goal was to reduce negative emotions and/or improve mood. However, nine out of ten patients also reported that they did not know how to determine whether they had achieved their goals. Instead the signal for stopping use came from being sick and/or blacking out. All patients reported that alcohol use helped to reduce self-consciousness. The results support a metacognitive conceptualization in which problem drinking is supported by disruptions of metacognitive monitoring and control. The conceptual implications for understanding problem drinking from a metacognitive perspective are discussed.
U2 - 10.1002/cpp.478
DO - 10.1002/cpp.478
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33646363027
SN - 1063-3995
VL - 13
SP - 138
EP - 143
JO - Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
JF - Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
IS - 2
ER -
