Clinical and Cognitive Insight in Pathological Anxiety: Relationship to Symptoms and Cognitive Factors

Although insight is widely studied in some disorders, research on insight in anxiety is limited. This study investigates clinical and cognitive insight and their relationship to symptoms and cognitive factors. A total of 175 participants with high trait anxiety completed an online self-reported measures and a reasoning task. No significant correlations between clinical and cognitive insight were found, suggesting the two constructs are distinct. Impaired clinical insight was significantly associated with reduced reports of symptoms, suggesting they are less likely to recognize that they have a problem. Impaired clinical insight was positively associated with negative metacognitive beliefs, suggesting they are likely to use unhelpful cognitions. Overall cognitive insight and self-reflection were positively associated with negative metacognition, suggesting that these individuals are more likely to have unhelpful metacognitive beliefs. Future research needs to explore the different constructs of insight and their relation to psychopathology and treatment outcomes in anxiety disorders.