Anxiety
Assessment of Metacognitive Beliefs About Worry
This assessment helps identify a client's beliefs about the usefulness of worrying; for example.
For the client who intellectually understands their worry is excessive but can’t seem to stop, there’s often an underlying, positive belief about the act of worrying itself. They may treat worry as a necessary form of problem-solving, or believe it keeps them safe from being caught off guard. This conviction can stall progress and keep them stuck in a cycle of rumination.
This assessment brings those implicit justifications for worry into the open, making them explicit and observable. It separates the anxious thoughts from the client’s beliefs about those thoughts, providing a clear target for intervention. The client leaves with a new perspective on what’s actually perpetuating their anxiety, moving beyond the content of the worry to its perceived function.
Assessment of Metacognitive Beliefs About Worry
Read each statement below and circle the number that best describes how much you agree with it.
Use the following scale: 1 = Do not agree at all 2 = Slightly agree 3 = Moderately agree 4 = Strongly agree
Worrying helps me to be prepared. 1 2 3 4
If I did not worry, I would be careless. 1 2 3 4
Worrying helps me solve problems. 1 2 3 4
I need to worry to perform well. 1 2 3 4
Worrying prevents bad things from happening. 1 2 3 4
Worrying shows that I am a responsible person. 1 2 3 4
Once I start worrying, I cannot stop. 1 2 3 4
I have no control over my worrying. 1 2 3 4
My worrying is dangerous for me. 1 2 3 4
My worrying could make me physically ill. 1 2 3 4
My worrying could make me lose my mind. 1 2 3 4
When I worry, it means there is a real danger. 1 2 3 4
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