Exploring the relationship between mental health and metacognition among medical students: Implications for educational practice

According to leading theories of successful learning, students are active participants in the process and regulate their learning, meaning they take responsibility and manage this process. The aim of this study is to assess learning approaches and the use of metacognitive strategies and their significance in relation to the mental health of students training to become healthcare professionals. The State Metacognitive Inventory (SMI) was used to assess students? metacognitive processes, and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) to evaluate their mental health. The study included 363 medical students from Novi Sad, comprising 34 males and 329 females, aged 18 to 29 years. Among the students, moderate levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms were observed, with mean scores indicating a mid-range level on the scales. Reported symptoms included feelings of nervousness, worry, tension, sadness, and worthlessness, while students simultaneously demonstrated relatively high behavioural control. Metacognitive strategies exhibited only weak loadings on mental health indicators, suggesting that moderate levels of strategy use were weakly related to psychological symptoms. This association may be viewed as an indication rather than a causal effect, given the study design. These findings point to the potential importance of further strengthening metacognitive awareness and regulatory strategies. The results emphasize the importance of systematically integrating metacognitive training into higher education and developing structured programs that enhance both academic competencies and students? mental health. Institutional support and preventive interventions are crucial for reducing psychological distress and improving overall mental well-being among students. These findings further underscore that fostering metacognitive skills may serve as a supportive resource in coping with stress and emotional challenges in demanding academic environments and highlight the necessity of embedding such strategies in educational practice.