The Efficacy of Metacognitive Therapy on Anxiety and Metacognitive Components in Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The Metacognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder was developed to explain cognitive processes associated with pathological worry، particularly the role of positive and negative beliefs about worry. In this study exploring the efficacy of Metacognitive therapy on generalized anxiety disorder were proceeded. This semi-experimental study was conducted using pre-test and post-test with control group. From all generalized anxiety disorder patients visited in Mashhad psychological clinic، 20 patients were selected through the availability sampling method and randomly were placed into two equal experimental and control groups. Participants were selected using structured clinical interview for DSM-IV based on disorders axis I. Experimental group experienced 9 weeks of Wells’ Metacognitive therapy، while control group were just followed. Beck anxiety inventory، Metacognitions questionnaire and Metaworry questionnaire were used in pre-test، post-test and follow up as the study instrument. Data were analyzed by descriptive indices and multivariate analysis of covariance. The results of this research showed that the means of anxiety، Metaworry and subscales of Metacognitive beliefs in Metacognitive therapy were reduced significantly in comparison with control group. The results of this study are congruent with other researches in this domain and were indicative of efficacy of Metacognitive therapy on generalized anxiety disorder.