Investigating the Correlation between Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies and Students’ Academic Well-being Mediated by Academic Engagement

Background: Puberty is known to be a stressful period for students, and managing its associated crises helps guarantee students’ mental health and sense of well-being in adulthood. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of academic engagement in the correlation between cognitive and metacognitive strategies and academic well-being in high school students. Methods: The method used in this research was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included all the female high-school students in Kermanshah, Iran, in 2021, out of whom a sample of 350 students was selected. The Standard Schoolrelated Well-being Questionnaire, the Learning Strategies Questionnaire, and the Academic Engagement Scale were utilized herein. The data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics (structural equation modeling). Results: The results revealed that cognitive (r=0.34, P=0.001) and metacognitive (r=0.36, P=0.001) strategies were significantly and positively correlated with academic well-being. Furthermore, cognitive (r=0.33, P=0.001) and metacognitive (r=0.42, P=0.001) strategies were significantly and positively correlated with academic engagement. These strategies also had an indirect and significant association with academic well-being mediated by academic engagement (P=0.001). Conclusions: The results demonstrated the desirable fit of the model. It could be therefore recommended that cognitive and metacognitive strategies be instructed to students in order to promote their academic well-being by increasing their academic engagement.