Metacognitive dysfunctions in personality disorders: correlations with disorder severity and personality styles

Metacognitive impairment is crucial to explaining dif culties in life tasks of patients with personality disorders (PDs). However, several issues remain open. There is a lack of evidence that metacognitive im- pairments are more severe in patients with PDs. The relationship between severity of PD pathology and the extent of metacognitive im- pairment has not been explored, and there has not been any nding to support the linking of different PDs with speci c metacognitive pro les. The authors administered the Metacognitive Assessment Interview to 198 outpatients with PDs and 108 outpatients with no PDs, differenti- ating overall severity from stylistic elements of personality pathology. Results showed that metacognitive impairments were more severe in the group with PDs than in the control group, and that metacognitive dysfunctions and the severity of the PD were highly associated. Positive correlations were found between speci c metacognitive dysfunctions and speci c personality styles. Results suggest that metacognitive im- pairments could be considered a common pathogenic factor for PDs.