Metacognitive beliefs mediate the relationship between mind wandering and negative affect

Highlights

• New Chinese MCQ-30 scale showed validity and reliability.

• Mind wandering correlated with less cognitive confidence.

• Mind wandering correlated with belief in uncontrollable and dangerous thoughts.

• Metacognition mediated the association between mind wandering and negative affect.

Abstract

Two studies (Ns = 254 and 130, aged 18–28) aimed to investigate associations between mind wandering and metacognitive beliefs, and whether these beliefs are involved in the relationship between mind wandering and negative affect. Participants completed questionnaire measures of metacognitive beliefs, mind wandering, daydreaming, negative affect, mindfulness, and sleep quality. Study 2 also included the Sustained Attention to Response Task, with thought-probe assessment of task-unrelated thought (mind wandering/daydreaming). The frequency of mind wandering/daydreaming/task-unrelated thought was found to positively correlate with the metacognitive dimensions of less cognitive confidence, more endorsement of belief in the uncontrollability/danger of thoughts, and more endorsement of belief in the need to control thoughts. Multiple-mediator analysis was undertaken with three main models where either mind wandering, daydreaming frequency, or task-unrelated thought was the predictor for negative affect. Metacognitive beliefs, mindfulness and sleep quality were simultaneously entered as potential mediators. Results showed that metacognitive belief in the uncontrollability/danger of thoughts was a consistently significant mediator, while mindfulness and sleep quality were less consistent. Overall, the current research indicates that metacognitive beliefs are an important consideration in the study of mind wandering/daydreaming, and a possibly key factor in understanding the association with negative affect.

Introduction

Mind wandering, or daydreaming, involves attention becoming focused on mentation unrelated to the external environment or to any ongoing task (Schooler et al., 2011, Singer, 1966). There are wide individual differences, but mind wandering/daydreaming seems to occur frequently: thought-sampling of participants engaged in daily activities has found mind wandering occurring in around 20–50% of samples (e.g., Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010, McVay et al., 2009, Song and Wang, 2012). Mind wandering/daydreaming can occur with meta-consciousness/self-awareness (involving explicit awareness of the ongoing conscious experience), but may also occur without meta-consciousness (Schooler et al., 2011, Smallwood and Schooler, 2006).

Meta-consciousness is a core aspect of mindfulness. Although there remains some disagreement about how to define mindfulness (Grossman & Van Dam, 2011), a central aspect is “… being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p.822). Mindfulness negatively correlates with the frequency of mind wandering/daydreaming (rs ranging − 0.24 to − 0.46: Carciofo et al., 2014a, Mrazek et al., 2012, Stawarczyk et al., 2012), and they have been seen as opposing concepts, at least in relation to attentional control (Mrazek et al., 2012).

Mindfulness is associated with better sleep quality (Howell, Digdon, Buro, & Sheptycki, 2008). In contrast, the frequency of mind wandering/daydreaming is related to difficulty in sleep initiation (Ottaviani & Couyoumdjian, 2013), and other aspects of poor sleep quality, including more reported sleep disturbances, lower ratings of subjective sleep quality, and more daytime dysfunction (Carciofo, Du, Song, & Zhang, 2014b). Also, while mindfulness is associated with positive affect and well-being (Brown and Ryan, 2003, Giluk, 2009), mind wandering and daydreaming frequency are associated with negative affect and depression (e.g., Giambra and Traynor, 1978, Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010, Smallwood et al., 2009). For example, in an experience sampling study with > 2000 participants, the experience of mind wandering was a significant predictor of later negative mood (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010).

The attention of many recent studies has focused on this relationship between mind wandering/daydreaming and negative affect (e.g., Marchetti et al., 2012, Mason et al., 2013, McMillan et al., 2013, Ottaviani and Couyoumdjian, 2013, Ottaviani et al., 2013, Stawarczyk et al., 2013), and it may involve a wide range of influences, both contextual and temporal (Smallwood & Andrews-Hanna, 2013). Stawarczyk et al. (2012) found that mindfulness and encoding style (internal versus external focus of attention) mediated the association between daydreaming frequency (predictor) and psychological distress (criterion). Furthermore, poor sleep quality has also been found to be a mediator between mind wandering/daydreaming frequency and negative affect (Carciofo et al., 2014b).

However, a further possible influence on this relationship between mind wandering/daydreaming and psychological distress/negative affect could be metacognition, which refers to “… knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena …” (Flavell, 1979, p.906), including the processes, knowledge, and beliefs involved in the regulation of thought (Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004). Thus, while metacognition includes meta-consciousness, it also includes metacognitive knowledge/beliefs about cognitive functioning, such as regarding intra-individual and inter-individual differences, and how these are related to goal-setting and strategy use (Flavell, 1979).

The metacognitive approach to psychological disorder (e.g., Wells and Matthews, 1996, Wells, 2007) argues that metacognitive beliefs can produce maladaptive self-regulation (coping or response styles), such as frequent/extended worry or rumination. These maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and response styles/strategies are important in the development and maintenance of many psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and obsessions (Cartwright-Hatton and Wells, 1997, Wells, 2007, Wells and Cartwright-Hatton, 2004), and may also be involved in insomnia (Harvey et al., 2005, Waine et al., 2009). To assess individual differences in aspects of metacognition associated with psychological distress/disorder, Cartwright-Hatton and Wells (1997) developed the MetaCognitions Questionnaire (MCQ), with items related to, for example, confidence in cognitive functions (such as memory), beliefs that worry might be a helpful strategy in some situations, and beliefs that worry might be uncontrollable or dangerous.

The success of the metacognitive approach developed by Wells and colleagues suggests that metacognitive beliefs are an important consideration for understanding many types of psychological distress. Although maladaptive daydreaming can occur when excessive fantasising limits social interaction and/or otherwise impairs daily functioning (Somer, 2002), mind wandering/daydreaming is not typically indicative of clinical disorder (Klinger et al., 2009, Singer, 1966). However, metacognitive beliefs might be involved in the widely reported relationship between mind wandering/daydreaming and the experience of negative affect. Thus, the current research aimed to investigate how metacognitive beliefs, as identified in the metacognitive approach to psychological disorder (Wells and Matthews, 1996, Wells, 2007), are related to mind wandering/daydreaming. In addition, it was investigated whether metacognitive beliefs mediate the relationship between mind wandering/daydreaming frequency and negative affect.