Cognitive Therapy and Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 2005 ( C  2005), pp. 107–121 DOI: 10.1007/s10608-005-1652-0 The Metacognitive Model of GAD: Assessment of Meta-Worry and Relationship With DSM-IV Generalized Anxiety Disorder Adrian Wells 1 The metacognitive model of GAD places negative metacognitive beliefs and meta- worry as central in the development and maintenance of disorder. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Meta-worry Questionnaire (MWQ) and used it to test hypotheses derived from the metacognitive model in the context of DSM-IV GAD. The MWQ was found to possess very good internal reliability, and both frequency and belief scales were found to consist of single factors. The scales correlated meaningfully with existing measures of worry and metacognition. Consis- tent with hypotheses individuals meeting criteria for GAD showed significantly higher meta-worry frequency scores than individuals classified as somatic anxiety or no anxi- ety. Meta-worry belief distinguished the GAD group from the non-anxious group but not the somatic anxiety group. These effects remained when Type 1 worry (social and health worry) was controlled. The results provide further support for the metacogni- tive model. Relationship between meta-worry frequency, belief, and GAD status was explored using path analysis. The relationship between meta-worry belief and GAD classification was dependent on meta-worry frequency. KEY WORDS: generalized anxiety disorder; metacognition; worry; meta-worry; assessment. INTRODUCTION There is an upsurge of interest in formulating the mechanisms underlying GAD and pathological worry. Some of the earliest pioneering work in the area emerged from Borkovec and colleagues, who went on to postulate mechanisms that could contribute to the spiraling of worry in this disorder (Borkovec, 1994; Borkovec & Inz, 1990). Borkovec and Inz (1990) proposed that worrying was used to suppress more emotionally laden imagery, and that the reduced arousal associated with such an effect acted as a negative reinforcer for the worry process. From a different 1 Academic Division of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester, Rawnsley Building, MRI, Manchester, M13 9Wl, UK; e-mail: adrian.wells@man.ac.uk. 107 0147-5916/05/0200-0107/0 C  2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.