The relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety

Marcantonio M. Spada; George A. Georgiou; Adrian Wells

doi:10.1080/16506070902991791

The relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety

Marcantonio M. Spada, George A. Georgiou, Adrian Wells

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

88 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The present study explored the relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety. A convenience sample of 142 undergraduate students completed the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire-30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the State subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 3 weeks before end-of-year examinations. A cross-sectional design was adopted, and data analysis consisted of correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlation analyses showed that three dimensions of metacognition (negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger, cognitive confidence, and beliefs about the need to control thoughts) were positively correlated with state anxiety. These same metacognitions were also found to be negatively correlated with attention shifting and, with the exception of cognitive confidence, attention focusing. Both attention focusing and attention shifting were found to be negatively correlated with state anxiety. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger and attention focusing independently predicted state anxiety. Overall, these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the metacognitive theory of psychological dysfunction in that they show that metacognitions (in the form of negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger) and executive control (in the form of attention-focusing) individually contribute to state anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	64-71
Number of pages	8
Journal	Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Volume	39
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/16506070902991791
Publication status	Published - Mar 2010
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Spada, M. M., Georgiou, G. A., & Wells, A. (2009). The Relationship among Metacognitions, Attentional Control, and State Anxiety. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 39(1), 64–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506070902991791. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords

Attentional control
Metacognitions
State anxiety

Access to Document

10.1080/16506070902991791

Spada, M. M., Georgiou, G. & Wells, A. The relationship between metacognitions, attentional control and state anxietyAccepted author manuscript, 125 KBLicence: CC BY-NC 4.0

Cite this

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title = "The relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety",

abstract = "The present study explored the relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety. A convenience sample of 142 undergraduate students completed the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire-30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the State subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 3 weeks before end-of-year examinations. A cross-sectional design was adopted, and data analysis consisted of correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlation analyses showed that three dimensions of metacognition (negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger, cognitive confidence, and beliefs about the need to control thoughts) were positively correlated with state anxiety. These same metacognitions were also found to be negatively correlated with attention shifting and, with the exception of cognitive confidence, attention focusing. Both attention focusing and attention shifting were found to be negatively correlated with state anxiety. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger and attention focusing independently predicted state anxiety. Overall, these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the metacognitive theory of psychological dysfunction in that they show that metacognitions (in the form of negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger) and executive control (in the form of attention-focusing) individually contribute to state anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed.",

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author = "Spada, {Marcantonio M.} and Georgiou, {George A.} and Adrian Wells",

note = "This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Spada, M. M., Georgiou, G. A., & Wells, A. (2009). The Relationship among Metacognitions, Attentional Control, and State Anxiety. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 39(1), 64–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506070902991791. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.",

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N2 - The present study explored the relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety. A convenience sample of 142 undergraduate students completed the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire-30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the State subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 3 weeks before end-of-year examinations. A cross-sectional design was adopted, and data analysis consisted of correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlation analyses showed that three dimensions of metacognition (negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger, cognitive confidence, and beliefs about the need to control thoughts) were positively correlated with state anxiety. These same metacognitions were also found to be negatively correlated with attention shifting and, with the exception of cognitive confidence, attention focusing. Both attention focusing and attention shifting were found to be negatively correlated with state anxiety. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger and attention focusing independently predicted state anxiety. Overall, these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the metacognitive theory of psychological dysfunction in that they show that metacognitions (in the form of negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger) and executive control (in the form of attention-focusing) individually contribute to state anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed.

AB - The present study explored the relationship among metacognitions, attentional control, and state anxiety. A convenience sample of 142 undergraduate students completed the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire-30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the State subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 3 weeks before end-of-year examinations. A cross-sectional design was adopted, and data analysis consisted of correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlation analyses showed that three dimensions of metacognition (negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger, cognitive confidence, and beliefs about the need to control thoughts) were positively correlated with state anxiety. These same metacognitions were also found to be negatively correlated with attention shifting and, with the exception of cognitive confidence, attention focusing. Both attention focusing and attention shifting were found to be negatively correlated with state anxiety. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger and attention focusing independently predicted state anxiety. Overall, these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the metacognitive theory of psychological dysfunction in that they show that metacognitions (in the form of negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger) and executive control (in the form of attention-focusing) individually contribute to state anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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