Abstract
<jats:p>Previous studies show that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs may constitute the psychopathological core of anxiety and depression. Recent findings also indicate that anxiety exacerbates the severity of depression. We investigated the hypothesis that anxiety mediates the relationship between faulty metacognitive beliefs and depressive symptoms in normal subjects. Two hundred and eight normal participants completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). We performed mediation analysis to explore the relationships between metacognition, depression, and trait anxiety as a mediator. Our study showed that positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about uncontrollability and danger, low cognitive confidence, and negative beliefs about the need to control thoughts, and cognitive self-consciousness were mediated by the level of anxiety associated withthe severity of depression. Moreover, the mediation analysis indicated that only cognitive confidence beliefs directly influenced the intensity of depressive symptoms.</jats:p>