Investigating the relationship between negative symptoms and metacognitive functioning in psychosis: an individual participant data meta-analysis

McGuire, N. et al. (2023) Investigating the relationship between negative symptoms and metacognitive functioning in psychosis: an individual participant data meta-analysis. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, (doi: 10.1111/papt.12484) (PMID:37530433) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Purpose: Negative symptoms are a persistent, yet under-explored problem in psychosis. Disturbances in metacognition are a potential causal factor in negative symptom development and maintenance. This meta-analysis uses individual participant data (IPD) from existing research to assess the relationship between negative symptoms and metacognition treated as summed scores and domains. Methods: Data sets containing individuals with negative symptoms and metacognition data, aged 16+ with psychosis, were identified according to pre-specific parameters. IPD integrity and completeness were checked and data were synthesized in two-stage meta-analyses of each negative symptoms cluster compared with metacognition in seemingly unrelated regression using restricted maximum likelihood estimation. Planned and exploratory sensitivity analyses were also conducted. Results: Thirty-three eligible data sets were identified with 21 with sufficient similarity and availability to be included in meta-analyses, corresponding to 1301 participants. The strongest relationships observed were between summed scores of negative symptoms and metacognition. Metacognitive domains of self-reflectivity and understanding others' minds, and expressive negative symptoms emerged as significant in some meta-analyses. The uncertainty of several effect estimates increased significantly when controlling for covariates. Conclusions: This robust meta-analysis highlights the impact of using summed versus domain-specific scores of metacognition and negative symptoms, and relationships are not as clear-cut as once believed. Findings support arguments for further differentiation of negative symptom profiles and continued granular exploration of the relationship between metacognition and negative symptoms.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gumley, Professor Andrew and McLeod, Professor Hamish and Aunjitsakul, Warut and Allan, Ms Stephanie and McGuire, Nicola

Creator Roles

McGuire, N.: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Methodology, Writing – review and editing, Formal analysis, Data curation
Gumley, A.: Conceptualization, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Data curation
Allan, S.: Writing – review and editing
Aunjitsakul, W.: Writing – review and editing
McLeod, H.: Writing – review and editing, Data curation, Supervision, Conceptualization

• Authors: McGuire, N., Gumley, A., Hasson-Ohayon, I., Allan, S., Aunjitsakul, W., Aydin, O., Bo, S., Bonfils, K., Bröcker, A.-L., de Jong, S., Dimaggio, G., Inchausti, F., Jansen, J. E., Lecomte, T., Luther, L., MacBeth, A., Montag, C., Pedersen, M. B., Pijnenborg, G. H. M., Popolo, R., Schwannauer, M., Trauelsen, A.-M., Donkersgoed, R. v., Wu, W., Lysaker, P., and McLeod, H.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1476-0835
• ISSN (Online): 2044-8341
• Published Online: 02 August 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence