Research Article
Mahdi Sheikh, Seyed Hassan Saa
Abstract
The present study aimed to compare the metacognitive beliefs and worry in depressed, anxious patients and nonpatients. This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2012. A total of 180 individuals including 60 depressed patients (30 males, 30 females), 60 anxious patients (30 males, 30 females) referred to psychological and counseling centers and 60 non-patient university students (30 males, 30 females) participated in the study. After applying convenience sampling and conducting unstructured interview by a psychologist, the subjects completed the Zung’s Anxiety Scale, Beck’s Depression Inventory, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and the Wells’ Metacognition Questionnaire. The results of the statistical analysis, ANOVA, LSD post hoc test, and Pearson correlation indicated that compared to depressed patients and non-patient subjects, anxious patients had higher levels of metacognitive beliefs and worry and this difference was significant (F=21/53, p