Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress
Abstract Aberrations to metacognition—the ability to reflect on and evaluate self-performance—are a feature of poor mental health. Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder propose that following severe stress or trauma, maladaptive metacognitive evaluations and appraisals of the event dr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Publishing Group
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Translational Psychiatry |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-02840-z |
| _version_ | 1797273102185398272 |
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| author | Alicia J. Smith James A. Bisby Quentin Dercon Anna Bevan Stacey L. Kigar Mary-Ellen Lynall Tim Dalgleish Caitlin Hitchcock Camilla L. Nord |
| author_facet | Alicia J. Smith James A. Bisby Quentin Dercon Anna Bevan Stacey L. Kigar Mary-Ellen Lynall Tim Dalgleish Caitlin Hitchcock Camilla L. Nord |
| author_sort | Alicia J. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Aberrations to metacognition—the ability to reflect on and evaluate self-performance—are a feature of poor mental health. Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder propose that following severe stress or trauma, maladaptive metacognitive evaluations and appraisals of the event drive the development of symptoms. Empirical research is required in order to reveal whether disruptions to metacognition cause or contribute to symptom development in line with theoretical accounts, or are simply a consequence of ongoing psychopathology. In two experiments, using hierarchical Bayesian modelling of metacognition measured in a memory recognition task, we assessed whether distortions to metacognition occur at a state-level after an acute stress induction, and/or at a trait-level in a sample of individuals experiencing intrusive memories following traumatic stress. Results from experiment 1, an in-person laboratory-based experiment, demonstrated that heightened psychological responses to the stress induction were associated with poorer metacognitive efficiency, despite there being no overall change in metacognitive efficiency from pre- to post-stress (N = 27). Conversely, in experiment 2, an online experiment using the same metamemory task, we did not find evidence of metacognitive alterations in a transdiagnostic sample of patients with intrusive memory symptomatology following traumatic stress (N = 36, compared to 44 matched controls). Our results indicate a relationship between state-level psychological responses to stress and metacognitive alterations. The lack of evidence for pre- to post-stress differences in metamemory illustrates the importance for future studies to reveal the direction of this relationship, and consequently the duration of stress-associated metacognitive impairments and their impact on mental health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:39:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-663c31ef9658482f9417517255941cac |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-3188 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:39:44Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Translational Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-663c31ef9658482f9417517255941cac2024-03-05T20:26:53ZengNature Publishing GroupTranslational Psychiatry2158-31882024-03-0114111210.1038/s41398-024-02840-zHot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stressAlicia J. Smith0James A. Bisby1Quentin Dercon2Anna Bevan3Stacey L. Kigar4Mary-Ellen Lynall5Tim Dalgleish6Caitlin Hitchcock7Camilla L. Nord8MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of CambridgeDivision of Psychiatry, University College LondonMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of CambridgeMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of CambridgeDepartment of Psychiatry, Herchel Smith Building of Brain & Mind Sciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, University of CambridgeDepartment of Psychiatry, Herchel Smith Building of Brain & Mind Sciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, University of CambridgeMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of CambridgeMelbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of MelbourneMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of CambridgeAbstract Aberrations to metacognition—the ability to reflect on and evaluate self-performance—are a feature of poor mental health. Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder propose that following severe stress or trauma, maladaptive metacognitive evaluations and appraisals of the event drive the development of symptoms. Empirical research is required in order to reveal whether disruptions to metacognition cause or contribute to symptom development in line with theoretical accounts, or are simply a consequence of ongoing psychopathology. In two experiments, using hierarchical Bayesian modelling of metacognition measured in a memory recognition task, we assessed whether distortions to metacognition occur at a state-level after an acute stress induction, and/or at a trait-level in a sample of individuals experiencing intrusive memories following traumatic stress. Results from experiment 1, an in-person laboratory-based experiment, demonstrated that heightened psychological responses to the stress induction were associated with poorer metacognitive efficiency, despite there being no overall change in metacognitive efficiency from pre- to post-stress (N = 27). Conversely, in experiment 2, an online experiment using the same metamemory task, we did not find evidence of metacognitive alterations in a transdiagnostic sample of patients with intrusive memory symptomatology following traumatic stress (N = 36, compared to 44 matched controls). Our results indicate a relationship between state-level psychological responses to stress and metacognitive alterations. The lack of evidence for pre- to post-stress differences in metamemory illustrates the importance for future studies to reveal the direction of this relationship, and consequently the duration of stress-associated metacognitive impairments and their impact on mental health.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-02840-z |
| spellingShingle | Alicia J. Smith James A. Bisby Quentin Dercon Anna Bevan Stacey L. Kigar Mary-Ellen Lynall Tim Dalgleish Caitlin Hitchcock Camilla L. Nord Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress Translational Psychiatry |
| title | Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| title_full | Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| title_fullStr | Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| title_short | Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| title_sort | hot metacognition poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-02840-z |
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