Assessment of metacognitive beliefs in an at risk mental state for psychosis: A validation study of the Metacognitions Questionnaire‐30.

PSYCHOSES risk factors; ANXIETY; COGNITIVE testing; STATISTICAL correlation; MENTAL depression; DISCRIMINANT analysis; FACTOR analysis; HEALTH attitudes; RESEARCH methodology; PARANOIA; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESEARCH evaluation; SOCIAL attitudes; MULTITRAIT multimethod techniques; RESEARCH methodology evaluation

Aim: The Metacognitions Questionnaire‐30 (MCQ‐30) has been used to assess metacognitive beliefs in a range of mental health problems. The aim of this study is to assess the validity of the MCQ‐30 in people at risk for psychosis. Methods: One hundred eighty‐five participants meeting criteria for an at risk mental state completed the MCQ‐30 as part of their involvement in a randomized controlled trial. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to assess factor structure and construct validity. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the original five‐factor structure of the MCQ‐30. Examination of principal component analysis and parallel analysis outputs also suggested a five‐factor structure. Correlation analyses including measures of depression, social anxiety, and beliefs about paranoia showed evidence of convergent validity. Discriminant validity was supported using the normalizing subscale of the beliefs about paranoia tool. Conclusions: The MCQ‐30 demonstrated good fit using the original five‐factor model, acceptable to very good internal consistency of items was evident and clinical usefulness in those at risk for psychosis was demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)