Metacognitive Self-Assessment Scale: psychometric properties and clinical implications

• Autor(a) principal: Faustino, Bruno
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Vasco, António Branco, Oliveira, Jorge, Lopes, Paulo Jorge Ferreira, Fonseca, Isabel Barahona da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10437/12436
• topic: COGNITIVE FUSION; PSYCHOMETRICS; SELF-REPORTS; METACOGNITION; META-BELIEFS; PSYCHOLOGY; PSICOLOGIA; PSICOMETRIA; METACOGNIÇÃO

Metacognition is a higher-order psychological construct that has been conceptualized as the abil- ity to identify and describe mental states, beliefs, and intentions of self and others. The Metacognition Self-Assessment Scale (MSAS), was developed to assess different functions of meta- cognition, being a potential asset in fields such as psychotherapy and clinical neuropsychology. However, a reliability and validity study is still lacking, as well, the study with other related meta- cognitive constructs. This research describes the psychometric analysis of the MSAS in a cross- sectional design and the study of the relationship between metacognitive functions, meta-beliefs and cognitive fusion. The sample comprised 194 participants from the general population (76% women), with an average age of 32 years old. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach alpha, test- retest, and validity procedures through bivariate correlations with convergent/divergent measures were conducted. The scale showed satisfactory psychometric properties with good internal consist- ency along with appropriate convergent/divergent validity. Metacognition and cognitive fusion were negatively correlated, while negative meta-beliefs and mastery predicted the variance of cog- nitive fusion. Decentering-differentiation factor correlated negatively with cognitive fusion and per- sonal discomfort. These results suggest that MSAS may be a reliable tool to assess metacognition in the Portuguese population. Clinical implications are discussed.