Abstract

Background: Most college students have started suffering from internet addiction. This addiction can bring a wide variety of effects on individuals’ thinking and self-regulation. It can lead to poor academic performance, too. The psychological constructs of cognitive flexibility and metacognitive awareness are widely recognized as important for adaptive learning and academic achievement. Previous studies show that they play a crucial role in learning effectiveness. Nonetheless, the effects of both variables on learning effectiveness have not been examined sufficiently among the internet-addicted college students. Objective: The study aimed to examine the effects of cognitive flexibility and metacognitive awareness on learning effectiveness among internet-addicted college students. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional correlational design was adopted. The study was conducted on college students in South Delhi, India. Trials were conducted on a total of 363 students through Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and 330 eligible participants were selected for final analysis. The data were collected using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), and Learning Effectiveness Scale. IBM SPSS-V27 was used for descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Results: It was found that cognitive flexibility as well as metacognitive awareness are positively and significantly associate and effective learning. As per regression analysis, both the predictors significantly predicted learning outcome (p < .001), with metacognitive awareness contributing more than cognitive. The combined regression model explained a significant portion of the variance in learning effectiveness, which indicates that adaptive cognitive and metacognitive skills enhance academic learning of college students with Internet addiction. Conclusion: Based on the study, cognitive flexibility and metacognitive awareness are found to be significant determinants of learning effectiveness among internet addicts. This could enhance students’ academic performance, self-regulated learning and other educational outcomes in higher education through educational and counseling interventions to improve these psychological competencies.