Unique Contributions of Metacognition and Cognition to Depressive Symptoms


YILMAZ A. E., GENÇÖZ T., Wells A.

JOURNAL OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, vol.142, no.1, pp.23-33, 2015 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 142 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/00221309.2014.964658
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.23-33
  • Keywords: cognition, depression, depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, metacognition, schema, BECK ANXIETY INVENTORY, PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES, RUMINATION, THERAPY, SCALE
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the unique contributions of cognitions or metacognitions to depressive symptoms while controlling for their intercorrelations and comorbid anxiety. Two-hundred-and-fifty-one university students participated in the study. Two complementary hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed, in which symptoms of depression were regressed on the dysfunctional attitudes (DAS-24 subscales) and metacognition scales (Negative Beliefs about Rumination Scale [NBRS] and Positive Beliefs about Rumination Scale [PBRS]). Results showed that both NBRS and PBRS individually explained a significant amount of variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond dysfunctional schemata while controlling for anxiety. Although dysfunctional attitudes as a set significantly predicted depressive symptoms after anxiety and metacognitions were controlled for, they were weaker than metacognitive variables and none of the DAS-24 subscales contributed individually. Metacognitive beliefs about ruminations appeared to contribute more to depressive symptoms than dysfunctional beliefs in the cognitive domain.