Metacognitive beliefs in depressed in-patients: Adaptation and validation of the short version of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) for French clinical and non-clinical samples

Abstract

Background: The short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) is a brief multi-dimensional measure which explores the metacognitive processes and beliefs about worry and cognition that are central to the vulnerability and maintenance of emotional disorders.Aims: The first aim of the study was to create and validate a French version of the MCQ-30 in a non-clinical and a clinical sample of depressed in-patients.Method: A French adaptation of the MCQ-30 was administered to a sample of 467 individuals from the general population and 73 hospitalized patients with major depressive disorder. Internal consistency was measured by Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients. Factor structure was assessed using a confirmatory factor analysis on the non-clinical group and a multi-trait-multi-method analysis on the psychiatric group. Criterion validity was explored by comparing the scores of the two samples. Measures of rumination, worry and depression were used to explore convergent validity.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis in the non-clinical sample indicated that the French version of the MCQ-30 has the same factor structure as the MCQ-30's original five-factor solution. In the clinical sample, the multi-trait-multi-method analysis revealed discrepancies with the original factor structure, and the MCQ-30 and its subscales were less reliable. Our results provide evidence of a convergent validity. The MCQ-30 scores were also able to discriminate between psychiatric and non-clinical samples.Conclusions: Our results show that the French version of the MCQ-30 is a valid instrument for measuring metacognitive beliefs in non-clinical population. Further research is needed to support its use among depressed in-patients.