Thinking about worry: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the assessment of metacognitions in children and adolescents

Table 1 Overview of studies included in the systematic review

Ref.	Sample	n	Female (%)	Age in year (range), mean ± SD	Risk of bias	POS/NEG/meta-worry	Worry	Anxiety
Babaei et al[55]	NC	200	NA	NA	Mod (9)	MCQ-30	-	GHQ-scale
Bacow et al[27]	Total/C1,2,3,4/NC	98/78/20	NA/63%/65%	(7-17) NA/(NA) 11.9 ± 3.1/(NA) 12.4 ± 3.0	Low (14)	MCQ-C	ADIS-C-section	ADIS-C/P
Bacow et al[28]	Total/C1,2,3,4/NC	98/78/20	NA/63%/65%	(7-17) NA/(NA) 11.9 ± 3.1/(NA) 12.4 ± 3.0	Low (14)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C; ADIS-C-section	ADIS-C/P
Benedetto et al[64]	NC	184	53%	(11-13) 12.0 ± 0.9	Mod (13)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	RCMAS-2
Benedetto et al[49], study1	NC	191	49%	(13-18) 16.4 ± 1.76a	Mod (13)	MCQ-C	-	RCMAS-2
Benedetto et al[49], study2	C1,5/NCb	14/14	57%/NA	(12-17) 14.9 ± 1.6/NA	Low (14)	MCQ-C	-	RCMAS-2
Boysan et al[92]	NC	805	49%	(11-17) 13.9 ± 1.4	Low (14)	MCQ-C	-	STAI-C
Carr and Szabó[72]	NC	93	48%	(7-12) 10.0 ± 1.2	Low (16)	MCQ-C	CAWS	-
Cartwright-Hatton et al[53]	C6/NC	(11)/166	(64%)/66%	NA/(13-17) 15.3 ± NA	Mod (12)	MCQ-A	-	RCMAS
Donovan et al[80]	Total/C1/NC	50/25/25	60%/NA/NA	(7-12) 9.9 ± 1.5/NA/NA	Low (14)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	ADIS-C
Donovan et al[65]	NC	114	51%	(8-12) 9.9 ± 1.3	Low (15)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	-
Ellis and Hudson[24]	Total/C1,5/NC	123/81/42	NA/57%/52%	(12-17) NA/(NA) 14.1 ± 1.5/(NA) 13.7 ± 1.4	Low (15)	MCQ-A	PSWQ	ADIS-C/P; SCAS-C/P
Esbjørn et al[23], study1	NC	587	55%	(9-17) 12.5 ± 0.9a	Mod (12)	MCQ-C30	PSWQ-C	SCARED-R
Esbjørn et al[23], study2	Total/C1,4,7,3/NC	93/50/43	NA/NA/NA	(7-12) 9.8 ± 1.6/NA/NA	Mod (13)	MCQ-C30	-	ADIS-C/P
Esbjørn et al[93]	NC	111	64%	(8-12) 10.1 ± 1.4	Low (15)	MCQ-C30	PSWQ-C	ADIS-C/P; RCADS
Esbjørn et al[66]	NC	974	55%	(9-17)	Low (15)	MCQ-C30	PSWQ-C	SCARED-R
Esbjørn et al[56]	C1	44	50%	(7-13) 9.7 ± 1.6	Low (15)	MCQ-C30	PSWQ-C	ADIS; RCADS
Fergus and Limbers[57]	NC (TG)/NC (CG)	39/34	62%/71%	(NA) 13.8 ± 0.5/(NA) 13.8 ± 0.7	Low (17)	MCQ-C	-	CTAS
Fisak et al[73]	NC	175	66%	(11-18) 13.9 ± 1.5	Mod (12)	MCQ-C;MWQ	PSWQ-C	-
Francis et al[50]	NC	312	55%	(9-15) 11.9 ± 1.2	Low (15)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	SCAS;MASC
Francis et al[51]	NC	312	55%	(9-15) 11.9 ± 1.2	Mod (14)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	-
Gallagher and Cartwright-Hatton[94]	NC	168	85%	(16-18) 17.2 ± 0.9	Mod (11)	MCQ-30	-	STAI-T
Gini et al[67]	NC	1169	48%	(14-17) 15.8 ± 1.1	Mod (11)	MCQ-30	PSWQ-C	GAD7
Hearn et al[25]	C3	126	60%	(8-17) 11.3 ± 2.7	Mod (13)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C(SF)	ADIS;SPAI-10-C/P
Hearn et al[74]	Total/C1,3/NC	60/40/20	70%/NA/NA	(8-12) 9.9 ± 1.3/NA/NA	Low (15)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C(SF)	ADIS; SCAS
Hearn et al[26]	Total/C3(TG)/C3(WL)	125/95/30	60%/NA/NA	(8-17) 11.3 ± 2.7/NA/NA	Low (17)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C(SF)	ADIS; SPAI-10
Holmes et al[59]	C1	1	0%	10	Low (16)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	ADIS-C/P;SCAS-C/P
Holmes et al[58]	Total/C1(TG)/C1(WL)	42/20/22	67%/NA/NA	(7-12) 9.6 ± 1.4/NA/NA	Low (17)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	ADIS-C/P;SCAS-C/P
Irak[78]	NC	470	44%	(8-17) 12.2 ± 2.8	Mod (12)	MCQ-C	-	STAI-C
Kertz and Woodruff-Borden[75]	NC	80	71%	(8-12) 9.6 ± 1.1	Mod (12)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C(SF)	RCMAS
Laugesen et al[71]	NC	528	49%	(14-18) 15.6 ± 0.9	Low (15)	WW-II	PSWQ-C	WAQ
Lønfeldt et al[76]	NC	188	66%	(7-12) 10.0 ± 1.4	Low (14)	MCQ-C30	-	ADIS-P; RCADS
Lønfeldt et al[77]	NC	1062	55%	(9-17) 12.3 ± 1.7	Low (14)	MCQ-C30	-	SCARED-R
Mather and Cartwright-Hatton[95]	NC	166	66%	(13-17) 15.1 ± 1.4	Mod (12)	MCQ-A	-	RCMAS
Matthews et al[81]	NC	223	56%	(13-16) NA	Mod (13)	MCQ-A	-	-
Naumann[68]	NC	972	52%	(7-14) 10.6 ± 1.5	Low (14)	MKF-K	PSWQ-C	SCAS
Normann et al[60]	C1,4,3,7	44	50%	(7-12) 9.9 ± 1.6	Low (14)	MCQ-C30	-	ADIS-C/P; SCARED-R
Reinholdt-Dunne et al[79]	C1,4,3,7/NC	169/182	53%/55%	(7-14) 9.9 ± 1.8/(7-12) 10.0 ± 1.4	Low (16)	MCQ-C30	-	RCADS
Sanger and Dorjee[61]	NC (TG)/NC (CG)	20/25	50%/68%	(16-18) 16.6 ± 0.6/(16-18) 17.1 ± 0.6	Mod (12)	MCQ-A	-	-
Simons and Vloet[62]	C7	3	100%	(14-17) 15.3 ± 1.5	Mod (13)	MCQ-A	SCAS-scale	SCAS
Smith and Hudson[52]	Total/C1,3,2,7,4,8/NC	83/49/34	60%/NA/NA	(7-12) 9.2 ± 1.6/NA/NA	Mod (13)	MCQ-C	-	ADIS-C/P; SCAS
Thorslund et al[63]	C1,3,9	10	70%	(14-17) 15.2 ± NA	Low (14)	MCQ-C	PSWQ-C	MINIKid
White and Hudson[30]	NC	187	31%	(7-12) 10.6 ± 1.7	Low (15)	MCQ-CR	PSWQ-C	SCAS
Wilson et al[82]	NC	72	54%	(11-16) 13.2 ± 1.0	Mod (13)	MCQ-A	PSWQ-C	MASC
Wilson and Hall[69]	NC	151	56%	(13-16) 15.1 ± 1.0	Mod (12)	MCQ-A	TCQ-scale	-
Wilson and Hughes[70]	NC	57	61%	(6-10) NA	Mod (12)	Interview	PSWQ-C	MASC
Yavuz et al[96]	NC	1817	54%	(14-17) 15.4 ± 1.1	Mod (12)	MCQ-C	-	NMP-Q
Zimmermann et al[54]	NC	221	55%	(13-17) 14.9 ± 1.4	Mod (12)	MCQ-A	-	SBB-ANZ

^aMean was only reported for subsamples and has been weighted on sample size.

^bSubsample from study 1.

Superscript numbers show diagnosis of clinical groups in descending order:

¹Generalized Anxiety disorder.

²Obsessive-compulsive-disorder.

³Social Anxiety Disorder.

⁴Separation Anxiety disorder.

⁵Other Anxiety disorder.

⁶Any emotional disorder.

⁷ Specific Phobia.

⁸Post-traumatic stress disorder.

⁹Panic disorder/agora phobia.

NA: Not available; TG: Treatment group; WL: Waiting list; CG: Control group; POS: Positive beliefs about worry; NEG: Negative beliefs about worry; Mod: Moderate; MCQ-30: Metacognitions Questionaire-30-Item Version; MCQ-C: Metacognitions Questionnaire for children; MCQ-A: Metacognitions Questionnaire-Adolescent Version; MKF-K: Metakognitions-Fragebogen für Kinder; MCQ-CR: Revised Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children; MCQ-C_30: Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children–30Item Version; MWQ: Meta-Worry Questionnaire; ADIS-C/P: Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule Child/Parent Versions; PSWQ: Penn State Worry Questionnaire; PSWQ-C: Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children; WAQ: Worry and Anxiety Questionnaire; RCMAS,RCMAS-2: Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale; STAI-C: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children; CAWS: Child and Adolescent Worry Scale; SCAS: Spence Children's Anxiety Scale; SCARED-R: Revised Version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders; MASC: Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children; GHQ: General Health Questionnaire; TCQ: Thought Control Questionnaire; SPAI-10: Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children; CTAS: Children´s Test Anxiety Scale; MINI Kid: Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents; GAD7: 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale; NMP-Q: Nomophobia Questionnaire; SBB-ANZ: Diagnostik-System für Psychische Störungen nach ICD-10 und DSM-IV für Kinder und Jugendliche – Selbstbeurteilungsfragebogen Angst- und Zwangsstörungen; SD: Standard deviation.