Metacognition vulnerabilities in time of crisis: Who to protect from suicidal risk?

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we could try to avoid negative information processing and anxiogenic content to prevent unhealthy thinking processes. One of the processes we can observe regarding our way of thinking is metacognition. The objective of this study is to look at its possible impact on suicide risk in the clinical and non-clinical populations. The results showed that the COVID 19 crisis influenced metacognitive levels for the non-clinical sample but not for the clinical population. Moreover, hopelessness predicted suicide risk for both populations, but metacognition was also a predictive factor for the non-clinical sample. In conclusion, the possible impact of preventive measures based on metacognitive work that can be created out of these results is presented.