Metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use: Development and validation of two self-report scales Marcantonio M. Spada a, ⁎ , Adrian Wells b,c a School of Human and Life Sciences, Roehampton University, Whitelands College, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK b University of Manchester, UK c Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Abstract The goal of this research was to develop clinical assessment tools of positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use. In Study 1 we constructed two scales and conducted preliminary factor analyses. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the predictive validity and temporal stability of the scales. Study 4 examined the factor structure, predictive validity and classification accuracy of the scales in a clinical sample. The Positive Alcohol Metacognitions Scale (PAMS) and the Negative Alcohol Metacognitions Scale (NAMS) were shown to possess good psychometric properties, as well as predictive validity and classification accuracy, in both clinical and community populations. The scales may aid future research into problem drinking and facilitate clinical assessment and case formulation. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Alcohol outcome expectancies; Alcohol use; Metacognition; Metacognitive beliefs about alcohol use; Negative emotions; Problem drinking 1. Introduction Metacognition refers to the psychological structures, beliefs, events and processes that are involved in the control, modification and interpretation of thinking (Flavell, 1979; Moses & Baird, 1999; Wells, 2000). The great majority of theorists would agree in drawing a distinction between two basic aspects of metacognition (Flavell, 1979; Wells, 2000; Yussen, 1985): metacognitive regulation and metacognitive Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Addictive Behaviors 33 (2008) 515 – 527 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 20 8392 3559. E-mail address: M.Spada@roehampton.ac.uk (M.M. Spada). 0306-4603/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.10.011