Metacognition in Depressive and Anxiety Disorders: Current Directions

Historically, research on metacognition originated in child psychologists' analyses of changes in reasoning abilities associated with cognitive development and maturation. In its broadest sense, this construct was understood as the ability to think about one's thinking in the context of problem solving and social processing. More recently, these concepts have become figural in theoretical accounts of clinical syndromes and as possible mediators of the effectiveness of cognitive treatments, specifically by teaching patients a way to observe and reappraise distressing thoughts and feelings. In this article, the authors review the current state of metacognitive theory as it relates to depressive and anxiety-based disorders and evaluate the extant evidence base for these models.