title: [Psychometric approach of metacognition: Pilot study in clinical population].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metacognition describes the process of thinking about one's own thought processes. This concept was introduced by Flavell in 1979 and has since been widely developed in the cognitive approach to mood and anxiety disorders. As it happens, many recent studies have underlined the links between metacognition and anxio-depressive symptoms, pointing out the interest of assessing its various dimensions. The short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire is a brief multidimensional measure of a range of metacognitive processes and metacognitive beliefs about worry and cognition relevant to the vulnerability to and the maintenance of emotional disorders. The aim of this study was twofold: firstly to adapt and validate a French version of the short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) and to assess its psychometric properties in a clinical sample, and secondly to investigate metacognitive predictors of anxiety and depression in this sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 55 clinical participants (24 men, 31 women, mean age=51.33±14.62) with DSM-IV-TR psychiatric disorders (major depression, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder). Instrument reliability (internal consistency), construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis), and convergent validity were measured. The total score and the five subscale scores were also compared with previous results in non-clinical samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Reliability analyses indicated that the French version of the MCQ-30 possessed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.84), and confirmatory factor analysis supported the MCQ's original five-factor structure. Correlation with measurements of depression, anxiety and pathological worry demonstrated convergent validity (r=0.62, P<0.01 for anxiety; r=0.47, P<0.01 for rumination; r=0.33, P<0.05 for depression). Moreover, our clinical sample scored higher on the global scale when compared to previous non-clinical samples (mean score=71.85±13.57 while previous studies global scores ranged from 48.41±13.31 to 65.89±17.17). Consistent with others studies, negative beliefs about worry concerning uncontrollability and danger, as well as beliefs about the need to control thoughts were the strongest predictors of pathological worry (respectively r=0.68, P<0.01 and r=0.48, P<0.01) and depression (respectively r=0.45, P<0.01 and r=0.39, P<0.01), providing further support for the validity of the measure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide general support for the internal consistency of the French version of the MCQ-30, as well as its five-factor structure and its good concurrent validity in a clinical sample. They also confirm that this version is a valuable tool for the assessment of various dimensions of metacognition, in relation to the anxio-depressive symptomatology and the subsequent management of patients.
authors.affiliation: LPPS-EA4057, institut de psychologie, université Paris-Descartes, Paris Sorbonne Cité, 92700 Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Electronic address: a.visinet@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Visinet
authors.affiliation: Service de psychiatrie adulte, hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France; Institut du cerveau et de la moëlle épinière (UMR 7225), groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soumet-Leman
authors.affiliation: Faculté de médecine, université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.affiliation: LPPS-EA4057, institut de psychologie, université Paris-Descartes, Paris Sorbonne Cité, 92700 Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bungener
authors.affiliation: Service de psychiatrie adulte, hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France; Institut du cerveau et de la moëlle épinière (UMR 7225), groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jouvent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000067489:Metacognition / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Anxiety disorders; Clinical sample; Metacognition; Metacognitions questionnaire; Mood disorders; Métacognition; Questionnaire de métacognitions; Troubles anxieux; Troubles dépressifs; Échantillon clinique