Psychometric properties of the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: The Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) was developed to measure individual differences in endorsement of maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Previous research shows the MCQ-30 possesses good psychometric properties. However, there is limited research on psychometric properties of the MCQ-30 in clinical samples, and the scale has not previously been validated in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the psychometric properties of the MCQ-30 in a sample of PTSD patients.

Method: A sample of 290 patients diagnosed with PTSD completed self-report questionnaires measuring trauma symptoms and metacognitive beliefs. The sample consisted of 225 women and 65 men (M = 33.90 years; range 18-69 years). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the factorial structure of the MCQ-30, and the internal consistency and convergent validity were evaluated. A linear regression analysis was used to evaluate unique associations between metacognitive subscales and trauma symptoms.

Results: The confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed five-factor structure of MCQ-30, and the subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. All five subscales were associated with trauma symptoms of which negative metacognitive beliefs and cognitive confidence showed unique relationships to symptoms.

Conclusion: The MCQ-30 demonstrates promising validity in assessing generic metacognitive beliefs among PTSD patients, suggesting its utility in both clinical practice and research contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).