It has been established that metacognitive beliefs are associated with anxiety and depression in adults, however less is known on if these associations are also present in children and adolescents. Thingbak et al (2024) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at evaluating the nature and magnitude of the associations between metacognitive beliefs and anxiety and depression in children and adolescents.

The review included 40 papers, with 9, 887 participants aged 7-18. All metacognitive beliefs are significantly and positively correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression (rs = .24–.53).

The review highlighted that clinical samples in comparison to non-clinical samples had significantly greater metacognitive beliefs on four out of five metacognitive beliefs (i.e., negative beliefs about worry, cognitive confidence, need for control, and cognitive self-consciousness, with the only exception being positive beliefs about worry). The size of the effect varied from small to large (Hedges’ gs = 0.45–1.22). Negative metacognitive beliefs regarding uncontrollability and danger of worry had the strongest association with clinical status and symptoms.

The results are in line with the S-REF model, and in line with the findings established in the adult literature.

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