Metacognitive processes model of decentering: emerging methods and insights

Abstract

We previously proposed that three metacognitive processes - meta-awareness, disidentification from internal experience, and reduced reactivity to thought content - together constitute decentering. We review emerging methods to study these metacognitive processes and the novel insights they provide regarding the nature and salutary function(s) of decentering. Specifically, we review novel psychometric studies of self-report scales of decentering, as well as studies using intensive experience sampling, novel behavioral assessments, and experimental micro-interventions designed to target the metacognitive processes. Findings support the theorized inter-relations of the metacognitive processes, help to elucidate the pathways through which they may contribute to mental health, and provide preliminary evidence of their salutary roles as mechanisms of action in mindfulness-based interventions.