Seyed Mosa Tabatabaee, Mahdi Sheikh, Aliakbar Malekirad and Fatemeh Samadi
The present study aimed to compare cognitive failures and metacognitive strategies of thought control in normal individuals and addicts. To this end, 244 patients including 122 patients referred to clinics for drug abuse treatment, as well as 122 matched normal individual as control group were selected through convenience sampling method. The subjects were interviewed and completed the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and Metacognitive strategies of thought control Questionnaire (TCQ). Results of the statistical analysis (descriptive statistics, Independent t-test, MANOVA Regression analysis) showed that there were statistically significant differences between the components of the cognitive failures in addicts and normal individuals. Furthermore, the level of cognitive failures for addicts was higher than that of normal people. In addition, components of metacognitive strategies of thought control for addicts were less than those for normal individuals and this difference was significant. Moreover, metacognitive control strategies explained 14% of variance of cognitive failures of addicts. It seems that metacognitive strategies of thought control have a key role in orientation and continuation of addictive behaviors in addicts via accelerating cognitive failures.
