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Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30)3

Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) Test

Understand how you relate to your thoughts and feelings in about 6 minutes. This 30 item measure supports anxiety and mood care by tracking key beliefs that can drive distress over time.

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Questions: 306 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

18,588 views

2,757 completions

1,706 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

17/24

Cognitive Self-Consciousness (CSC) (CSC)

Measures how much you monitor and pay attention to your own thoughts and thinking processes.

Lower monitoring

Moderate monitoring

Higher monitoring

6 – 12: Lower monitoring | 13 – 18: Moderate monitoring | 19 – 24: Higher monitoring

A score of 17 falls in the Moderate monitoring range, suggesting you pay noticeable attention to your thoughts without it being at the highest level on this scale.

example score

17/24

Need to Control Thoughts (NtCT)

Assesses how strongly a person believes they must control their thoughts to prevent negative outcomes.

Low

Moderate

High

6 – 12: Low | 13 – 18: Moderate | 19 – 24: High

A score of 17 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a noticeable tendency to feel that controlling thoughts is important, which may relate to efforts to suppress or avoid certain thoughts.

example score

13/24

Cognitive Confidence (CC)

Assesses the degree of confidence in one’s cognitive abilities such as attention and memory.

Low doubts

Moderate doubts

High doubts

6 – 11: Low doubts | 12 – 17: Moderate doubts | 18 – 24: High doubts

A score of 13 falls in the Moderate doubts range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme tendency to question your attention and memory.

example score

13/24

Negative Beliefs (NEG) (NB)

Measures negative beliefs about worry and anxiety being uncontrollable and potentially dangerous.

Low

Moderate

High

6 – 11: Low | 12 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 13 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme tendency to view worry as hard to control or potentially harmful.

example score

16/24

Positive Beliefs About Worry (POS) (PBAW)

Measures the extent to which a person believes worry is useful or beneficial for coping and problem-solving.

Low

Moderate

High

6 – 11: Low | 12 – 18: Moderate | 19 – 24: High

A score of 16 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting you somewhat endorse the idea that worrying can be helpful or motivating.

example score

85/120

Total Score (TS)

This scale measures the overall intensity of dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs about thinking, worry, and control of thoughts.

Lower

Moderate

Higher

30 – 59: Lower | 60 – 89: Moderate | 90 – 120: Higher

A score of 85 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a notable but not extreme level of maladaptive beliefs about thoughts and their controllability.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People with chronic worry

41%OF USERS

They take it to understand beliefs that make worry feel dangerous, uncontrollable, or necessary, and how that fuels anxiety.

Therapy clients tracking progress

35%OF USERS

They use it before, during, or after therapy to pinpoint metacognitive patterns and see whether they are changing over time.

Clinicians and researchers

24%OF USERS

They administer it to assess metacognitive beliefs linked to anxiety and mood problems and to support case formulation or studies.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Mindfulness of Thinking, CSC (MoTC)

Average

17.8

Normal range

14.4 — 21.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Thought Control, NC (TCN)

Average

16.2

Normal range

13.4 — 18.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Cognitive Incompetence, CI (CIC)

Average

Normal range

16.3 — 21.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Negative Beliefs, NEG (NBN)

Average

15.9

Normal range

12.9 — 19

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Positive Beliefs, POS (PBP)

Average

12.1

Normal range

9.7 — 14.5

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Overall Score (OS)

Average

53.5

Normal range

41.3 — 65.7

min.

max.

120

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below is a list of beliefs that people may tend to hold. Please read each statement and indicate the extent to which you generally agree with it. Please answer all items; there are no right or wrong answers.

- Disagree
- Tend to agree
- Mostly agree
- Strongly agree
- Disagree
- Tend to agree
- Agree mostly
- Agree completely
- Disagree
- Agree slightly
- Agree mainly
- Agree completely

These are 3 of the 30 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Metacognitive Beliefs Questionnaire, MCQ-30 Test

Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) Test - Symptoms and Signs

irrational beliefs

cbt

metacognition

This self-report measure is used to assess metacognitive beliefs associated with worry and related emotional difficulties. The Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) provides a brief profile of how individuals appraise, monitor, and attempt to regulate their thoughts and feelings.

The instrument includes 30 items and typically requires about 6 minutes to complete. Respondents rate their level of agreement with statements reflecting common metacognitive themes (e.g., beliefs about the danger or uncontrollability of thoughts, perceived need to control thoughts, positive beliefs about worry, and self-focused attention to mental activity). Developed by Gerald Matthews and Adrian Wells, the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30) is commonly used in clinical assessment and research to characterize metacognitive processes and to monitor change over the course of intervention.

Author: Adrian Wells, Gerald Matthews

Literature: Wells, A., & Cartwright-Hatton, S. A short form of the metacognitions questionnaire: Properties of the MCQ-30. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2004.; Wells, A. Metacognitive therapy for anxiety and depression. Guilford Press. 2009.