Investigation of the Metacognitive Model of Depression in a Turkish Sample of Major Depressive Disorder

OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to test the metacognitive model of depression in individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and to investigate the relative contributions of cognitions and metacognitions about rumination to the explanation of depressive symptoms.METHOD:The participants of the study consisted of 180 MDD patients not meeting the diagnostic criteria for other psychiatric disorders. The obtained data were analyzed through structural equation modelling (SEM) and hierarchical regression analyses.RESULTS:SEM results showed that positive beliefs about rumination increased the rumination level, and the higher levels of rumination significantly predicted the increase in depressive symptoms partly through the mediating effect of negative metacognitive beliefs about rumination regarding interpersonal and social consequences. However, negative metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of rumination were not found to be associated with symptoms of depression in the participants of this study. The power of dysfunctional attitudes for predicting depression was lost when hierarchical regression analysis was carried out by controlling the metacognitions about negative interpersonal and social consequences of rumination.CONCLUSION:The results are consistent with the metacognitive model of depression, which was originally developed for better understanding of MDD, and point to the usefulness of considering positive and negative metacognitions about rumination in the processes of clinical evaluation and intervention for MDD.