The Relationships Between Metacognitive Beliefs, Executive Functioning, and Psychological Distress in Early Adolescence

Increased endorsement of metacognitions and poorer executive functioning have been associated with increased adolescent psychological distress. However, it is unknown whether poorer executive functioning strengthens the metacognitions–psychological distress relationship. This cross-sectional study investigated unique and interactive contributions of self-reported positive metacognitions (beliefs that repetitive thinking is beneficial), negative metacognitions (beliefs that repetitive thinking is uncontrollable) and an objective test of executive function on self-reported psychological distress in N = 85 Australian adolescents (49