Interrelationships Between Reading and Metacognition
Maria Lucia Cavallo, Vanessa Statilani, Lucia Destino
This study aims to explore whether, and in what ways, reading narrative texts can influence the various components of metacognition, and how this activity can be functionally integrated into clinical practice. To this end, a narrative literature review was executed by consulting three significant databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus. The findings reveal that, despite the growing interest in the use of reading in psychological contexts, empirical evidence on the relationship between narrative and metacognition remains limited. Specifically, two literature reviews and only one experimental study were identified that assessed the effectiveness of a bibliotherapy-based intervention in psychiatric patients, reporting promising but not yet conclusive preliminary results. These findings emphasize the need for further research, conducted with greater methodological rigor, to clarify the role of narrative reading in metacognitive processes and to evaluate its effectiveness as a clinical resource in psychotherapeutic treatment.
Keywords
Reading, Metacognition, Psychotherapy, Narrative fiction, Bibliotherapy.
