Introduction

In recent literature, abnormalities in the metacognitive domain have been pointed out as psychological variables that may account for a wide range of psychopathologies, including gambling disorder (GD). Considering the growing but scattered nature of the research concerning the relationship between metacognition and GD, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing results are required.

Methods

We performed a systematic search through five scientific databases for research published till December 10, 2019, following PRISMA guidelines. We also searched grey literature. After removing the redundancy, 16.855 records were screened.

Results

Unanimously, authors selected 10 articles based on the inclusion criteria. Four of the selected studies evaluated metacognitive abilities towards cognitive performances, mostly considering metacognitive deficits about decision-making, while metacognitive beliefs were assessed by six of the selected articles. Only one study examined metacognitive functioning regarding GD. The meta-analytic procedure was performed on 10 identified studies based on the criteria adopted, which comprised 1.655 individuals. Results showed that the average effect size linking metacognitive dysfunctions and GD was significant and moderated by the instrument used to measure metacognition.

Conclusions

The examined line of research is highly heterogeneous owing to the type of operationalization adopted for metacognition. The systematic review also showed a grey area, evidencing the lack of research on metacognitive functions. Results demonstrated by this meta-analysis call for future studies examining the role of metacognitive deficits in GD in order to delineate useful clinical indications.

中文翻译：

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赌博疾病的元认知：系统评价和荟萃分析。

介绍

在最近的文献中，已经指出了元认知领域中的异常是心理变量，其可以解释广泛的心理病理学，包括赌博障碍（GD）。考虑到关于元认知和GD之间关系的研究的增长但分散的性质，需要对现有结果进行系统的回顾和荟萃分析。

方法

根据PRISMA指南，我们对五个科学数据库进行了系统的搜索，以进行研究直到2019年12月10日为止。我们还搜索了灰色文献。除去冗余后，筛选了16.855条记录。

结果

作者一致根据入选标准选择了10篇文章。所选研究中的四项评估了对认知表现的元认知能力，主要考虑了决策方面的元认知缺陷，而所选文章中的六篇评估了元认知信念。只有一项研究检查了关于GD的元认知功能。该元-analytic程序是基于所采用的标准，其中包括1.655 10个个人的研究确定执行。结果表明，将元认知功能障碍和GD联系起来的平均效应大小在衡量元认知的仪器中显着且可缓解。

结论

由于元认知采用的操作化类型，所研究的研究领域高度异质。系统评价还显示出灰色区域，表明缺乏对元认知功能的研究。这项荟萃分析所显示的结果要求进行进一步的研究，以检查GD的元认知缺陷的作用，以勾勒有用的临床指征。