An Integrative Conceptualization of Metacognitive Constructs: Implications Toward Stress and Resilience

Metacognition is composed of several different components representing different modalities. They have been proposed to be important factors in cognitive development and drivers of the higher cognitive functions, and the impairment of metacognitive functions has been implicated as a major transdiagnostic factor in the development of a variety of psychopathologies. Metacognitive regulation processes drive the various higher order cognitive functions, and metacognitive monitoring provides judgments regarding the efficiency of cognitive processing. Metacognitive regulation and monitoring are tightly coupled and provide information for the iterative development of metacognitive knowledge, the comprehensive mental model of the world. The different elements of metacognition are largely interconnected and have also been proposed to promote the development of resilience, whereas impairments in metacognitive capacity have been found to entail propensity to develop stress-related disorders. Metacognitive deficits seem to be highly transdiagnostic, and their better assessment could lead to improvements in the treatment of several psychiatric entities currently considered as separate by both the ICD and DSM diagnostic criteria. For these purposes, I consider this integrative perspective to be warranted.