ABSTRACT
Meta-emotion is emotion about emotion or emotion applied to regulating emotion or used as a reference point for coping. Patients often use emotions as a source of metacognitive information that contributes to the maintenance of the psychological disorder. In the S-REF model (see Point 2), the information derived from positive and negative emotional states contributes to appraisals of thoughts and of self-knowledge and is used to indicate whether continued coping efforts are required. For example, in GAD, when an intrusive thought in the form of a ``what if'' question occurs, self-focused attention increases, the worry process begins and the person uses their emotional state, i.e. reduction in anxiety, as a cue to when to cease worrying.
