Objective: Diabetes poses a significant global health threat due to its
increasing prevalence and associated comorbidities, straining healthcare
systems worldwide. Depression and anxiety are frequent comorbidities
in individuals with diabetes, and their underlying mechanisms have
been a subject of research. This study investigated the influence of
metacognitions and metacognitions about symptom control (MaSC)
on depression and anxiety in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D),
specifically examining their effects beyond illness representations.
Method: Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study
involved 153 T2D patients. Participants completed the Hospital
Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Illness Perception
Questionnaire (B-IPQ), Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30),
Metacognitions about Symptom Control Scale-Revised (MaSCS-R),
and the Protection Motivation Theory Scale for COVID-19 Preventive
Behaviors.
Results: Hierarchical regression analysis showed that after controlling
for socio-demographic variables, fear of COVID-19, and illness
representations, negative metacognitions about symptom control
predicted 2% of anxiety and 4% of depression; metacognitions
predicted 10% of anxiety and 9% of depression.
Conclusion: Metacognitions predicted both depression and anxiety,
supporting the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model.
Metacognitive therapy could be an alternative for managing emotional
distress in T2D patients and may contribute to future research.
Keywords: Anxiety, depression, diabetes, illness representations,
metacognitions