Abstract
Vulnerability to psychological disorder can be assessed with constructs such as trait anxiety and neuroticism which among others are transdiagnostic risk factors. However, trait-anxiety and related concepts have been criticised because they don’t illuminate the etiological mechanisms of psychopathology. In contrast, the metacognitive (S-REF) model offers a framework in which metacognitive knowledge conceptualised in trait terms is part of a core mechanism underlying trait-anxiety and related constructs. The present study therefore set out to explore metacognitions as potential underlying factors in trait-anxiety (the propensity to depression and anxiety). Nine hundred and eighty two participants completed self-report measures of metacognitions and trait-anxiety at time 1, and 425 individuals completed the same measures 8 weeks later. At the cross-sectional level, metacognitions accounted for 83% of the variance in anxiety- and 64% of depression propensity. Furthermore, despite both domains of trait-anxiety showing high stability over time, negative- and positive metacognitive beliefs were significant prospective predictors of both domains of vulnerability. These findings suggests that metacognitive beliefs may be an underlying mechanism of vulnerability attributed to trait-anxiety with the implication that the metacognitive (S-REF) model informs conceptualization of psychological vulnerability, and that metacognitive therapy applications might be employed to enhance psychological resilience.
Highlights
Founded in personality research, the concept of psychological vulnerability can be assessed by a variety of trait constructs such as Trait-Anxiety, Neuroticism and negative affectivity (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975; Spielberger et al, 1983; Watson and Clark, 1984)
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was designed by Spielberger et al (1983) to measure anxiety as a state at a given point in time, and as a trait reflecting proneness to react with anxiety under stressful circumstances
In the time 1 (T1) data, the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ)-30 five factor measurement model showed the following fit indices: χ2(395) = 1622.05, p < 0.01, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.90, SRMR = 0.07, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.06, and in the time 2 (T2) data, the fit indices were: χ2(395) = 1245.85, p < 0.01, CFI = 0.89, SRMR = 0.07, RMSEA = 0.07
Summary
The concept of psychological vulnerability can be assessed by a variety of trait constructs such as Trait-Anxiety, Neuroticism and negative affectivity (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975; Spielberger et al, 1983; Watson and Clark, 1984). These constructs are positively linked with psychopathology and are considered to be a general tendency to experience negative emotions that is genetically influenced (e.g., Rosenström et al, 2018). Rather than being considered a measure of specific proneness to anxiety as originally proposed, trait-anxiety should be considered a measure of general vulnerability to emotional disorder and distress
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