Do metacognitions mediate the path from reading deficits to internalization and externalization behaviours in Pakistani adolescents?

ABSTRACT

The present research examines the mediating role of metacognition in the relationship between RD and internalization and externalization in a normative sample of Pakistani adolescents. The participants were 210 adolescents ranging from 11 to 17 years. The data were collected using a Metacognitions index of the Behavioral Rating Inventory and two internalization and externalization indexes of the Personality Inventory for Children. A series of regression analyses were conducted to examine metacognition’s mediating role in the relationship between reading deficits and internalization and externalization. The findings illustrate that meta-cognition significantly mediated the relationship between reading deficits and internalization and externalization in adolescents. The current findings have implications for clinicians, school psychologists, and policymakers for the early identification and intervention of reading deficits to reduce and manage the occurrence of adolescents’ internalization and externalization behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Reading deficits
• internalization
• externalization
• metacognitions
• adolescents
• Pakistan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.