Effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy for Student's Metacognitive Beliefs and Anxiety

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 84 ( 2013 ) 1555 – 1558

1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu & Dr. Mukaddes Demirok, Near East University, Cyprusdoi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.787

Effectiveness of group metacognitive therapy for metacognitive beliefs and anxiety

Mahdi Valizade, Saba Hasanvandi, Mahnaz Mehrabizade Honarmand, Ali Afkar

aAzad University of quchan, Quchan, Iran bDepartment of educational sciences and psycjology,Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran

cPhysician,Imam Khomeyni hospital, Dargaz, Iran

Abstract

Trying for students's health improvement is one of aims educational aims toward to better operation in students.Aim:respect to emphasis on investigation effective elements in student's health, the aim of this study was investigation Effectiveness of metacognitive therpy for students's metacognitive beliefs and anxiety.Metod:Sample was included 27 students that selected as simple random sampling.Participants were completed metacognitive beliefs and anxiety questionnair in pre-post test and follow up stages.Results of analysis covariate showed that there is significant difference in increase of metacognitive beliefs and anxiety in groups of experimental and control in post test and follow up stages.Conclusion:These results can help to therapists in decrease of student's anxiety.

Keywords: Group metagocnitive therapy, metacognitive beliefs, anxiety

1. Introduction

Metacognition is a multi-faceted concept comprising knowledge, processes and strategies that appraise, monitor or control cognition. In the other area, the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model proposed byWells and Mathews (Wells, 2000;Wells and Matthews, 1994, 1996) offers a detailed analysis of how metacognitions would play a determining role in the maintenance and development of psychological disorders. Metacognitions have been implicated in recent models of psychological disorder and their treatment by Wells and and colleagues (e.g. Wells, 2000; Wells and Matthews, 1994, 1996). In this model, psychological disturbance is maintained and intensified by a

Particular style called the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome. In the model, the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome is marked by worry and rumination, and this syndrome is linked to metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of thoughts. More specific metacognitive beliefs are also thought to contribute to some disorders, such as beliefs in cognitive inefficiency and a style of excessive monitoring of the stream of consciousness (e.g. Wells, 2000; Wells and Matthews, 1994, 1996). The activation of the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome, linked to meta-cognitive beliefs and strategies, leads to the maintenance and deepening of negative emotional reactions, and ultimately to psychological disorder. The S-REF model assumes that in psychological disorder inappropriate coping

3rd World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Guidance (WCPCG-2012)

© 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer review under the responsibility of Dr. Melehat Halat

Corresponding author name: Mahdi Valizade Tel.: +00 00000000Email: [email protected]

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

© 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu & Dr. Mukaddes Demirok, Near East University, Cyprus

1556 Mahdi Valizade et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 84 ( 2013 ) 1555 – 1558

strategy may be selected. The S-REF theory has been the focus of some research and findings have revealed that negative metacognitions are positively associated with the development of auditory hallucinations (Morrison et al., 1995; Morrison andWells, 2003), pathological worry and proneness to anxiety (Cartwright-Hatton and Wells, 1997; Wells and Papageorgiou, 1998), hypochondriasis (Bouman and Meijer, 1999), test anxiety (Mathews et al., 1999), anxiety disorder (Wells and Carter, 2001), and obsessive compulsive symptoms (Gwilliamet al., 2004). While findings from these studies do underscore the relevance of metacognitions to psychopathology, specific metacognitive differencesamong the various disorders have yet to be discovered. Given the tremendous clinical and theoretical overlap between depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as between rumination, obsessions and worry, an empirical examination of possible differences might help generate predictions regarding metacognitive beliefs specific to these disorders.

The earlier findings concerning metacognitive beliefs and anxiety disorder; to determine effectiveness iranian population as group form yet.

important role in academic progress, The purpose of the present study was explore effectiveness of group metacognitive therpy for students's metacognitive beliefs and anxiety. So, group approach was used in order to facilation interaction between participants and empathy in the group.

2. Method

2.1. Participants and procedures The study population included all intermediatory students in dargaz city in 2010-2011and sample included 27

students that were selected by simple random method. The students were divided randomly into experimental (n=13) and control (n=14) groups. The participants completed Metacognition beliefs and Anxiety Questionnaires in pre-post test and follow-up (1 month) stages. 10 sessions of group therapy , twice a week, that each session was two hours carried out. This study was experimental design with control group and follow-up that from 2010 to 2011conducted in dargaz city. The activities of the studied sessions were as the following table.

Table 1. Therapeutic sessions and their description

Session sdescription 1th session Generate case formulation, Practice detached mindfulness (DM) 2 thsession Verbal and behavioral reattribution uncontrollability 3th session Continue to challenge uncontrollability, run loss-of-control experiment 4th session Begin challenging danger beliefs, Try to go crazy, or damage self with worry experiment 5th session Continue challenging beliefs about danger, run an in-session experiment to challenge danger 6th session Continue challenging danger beliefs, Focus on reversing any remaining maladaptive strategies 7th session If negative beliefs are at zero, begin challenging positive beliefs 8th session Continue challenging positive beliefs, In-session mismatch strategy 9th session check residual avoidance, and maladaptive coping, Work on reversing residual symptoms 10th session Work on therapy blueprint, Reinforce replacement plan and illustrate with example 2.2.measures 2.2.1. Meta-cognitions questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) This instrument is a trait measure of several metacognitive parameters, some of which are central to the

metacognitive model of psychological disorder. A large body of empirical evidence supporting metacognitive theory is based on research using the MCQ. The original instrument (MCQ-65; Cartwright-Hatton & Wells, 1997) consisted of 65 items; a more recent 30-item version (MCQ-30) with similar psychometric properties is now available (Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004).

2.2.2. State-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) It was developed by Spielberger, Gorsuch, Luschene, Vagg, and Jacobs (1970) and consists of 40 items which

measure state and trait anxiety (from LeCompte, 1983). The reliability and validity of the Turkish version was demonstrated by LeCompte (1983) in both healthy and clinical samples. They showed that Kuder-


Richardson alpha coefficients ranged from .83 to .87 for trait anxiety and .94 .96 for state anxiety. Item remainder reliability ranged .34 .72 for trait anxiety and .42 .85 for state anxiety. Test retest reliability ranged .71 .86 for trait anxiety and .26 .68 for state anxiety. In this study, only the trait anxiety subscale (STAI-T) of the STAI was used.

3. Results Participants in experimental group (n=13) and in control group (n=14) were responded to questionnaires in all

stages. In whole sample, frequency of Seventeen years old student was 5 (18.52 percent), frequency of eghiteen years old students was 18 (66.66 percent) and frequency of nineteen years old students was 4 (14.82 percent). Too, in whole sample, frequency of third grade students was 5 (18.51 percent), frequency of fourth grade students was 22 (81.99 percent). Mean and standard deviation in two groups in pre-post test and follow-up stages are drown in table 2.

Table 2. mean and standard deviation in two groups in pre-post test and follow-up stages

stage variable group mean SD Pre-test metacognitive

beliefs E 89.84 7.01

anxiety C 94.71 5.53 metacognitive

beliefs E 122.61 6.87

anxiety C 111.14 3.39 Post-test metacognitive



beliefs E 85.53 10.95

anxiety C 117.35 5.58 Follow-

up metacognitive

beliefs E 78.23 9.001



anxiety C 111.71 7.28 In table 2, as seen scores of metacognitive beliefs and anxiety deacrese in post-test and follow-up stages.So,

results of multivariate covariance analysis in two groups on scores of metacognitive beliefs and anxiety are in below table.

Table 3. results of multivariate covariance analysis in two groups on scores of metacognitive beliefs and anxiety

Post-

test Dependent variable Sum of squares d

f Mean of

squares F P

metacognitive beliefs

352.09 1 352.09 <0.007

anxiety 2025.5 1 2025.5 <0.001 Follow

-up metacognitive

beliefs 336.2 1 336.2

<0.034 anxiety 1785.2 1 1785.2 <0.006

In above table, results of multivariate covariance analysis in two groups on scores of metacognitive beliefs and

anxiety have showed. These results indicated that differences between experimental and control groups in post-test and follow-up stages than pre-test stage are significant (p<0.005).


4. Discussion The metacognitive approach emphasizes the dynamic nature of processing in psychological disorders. In this

model general beliefs and negative thoughts are the output of metacognitions that control the retrieval of information from long-term memory, the direction of attention, and the implementation of thinking styles (strategies). The aim of this study was investigating effectiveness of group metacognitive therpy for students's metacognitive beliefs and anxiety. All patients were improved on self-report measures at post-treatment, and effects were maintained at follow-up (1 month). The degree of improvement across measures suggests that treatment was highly effective. Examination of the effects of treatment on different dimensions of worry suggests that a specific focus on metacognitions has a general impact across components of worry. In particular, social and health concerns decreased significantly. This is interesting because at no stage in treatment was the content of worry, outside of the domain of metacognition, the focus of modification. Such an approach has the advantage of avoiding the difficulty encountered by therapists of having to The contrast between cognitive and metacognitive therapy can be perhaps illustrated with reference to the nature of the Socratic dialogue used in treatment.

In contrast,

you arrived at th

recurrent dynamic patterns of processing guided by metacognitions. Such metacognitions and patterns are central targets for change. The results of this study are similar to those obtained in earlier trials of GAD (Wells & King, 2006) and wells etal (2010). There are limitations with the present study that must be borne in mind. The results are based on a relatively small number of cases and so caution should be used in interpreting the data. A reliance strictly on self-report measures of treatment outcome is a limitation for interpreting the present treatment effects.

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to all the dear students who had an active cooperation in conducting this study.

References

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Effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy for Student's Metacognitive Beliefs and Anxiety