Metacognition Mediates the Effect of Social Communication and Internalizing Behaviors on Self-management of Daily Life Tasks for Diploma-Track Autistic Youth.

The team asked 46 autistic teens in diploma-track classes to fill out surveys.

They measured social communication, anxiety, metacognition, and daily living skills.

Then they used statistics to see if metacognition sits in the middle between social or mood problems and real-life task success.

Metacognition acted like a bridge.

Better social skills and lower anxiety only helped daily tasks when metacognition was strong.

If the teens could think about their own thinking, they managed homework, chores, and schedules better.

Myers et al. (2018) already showed that parent-rated metacognition predicts daily skills in younger kids.

Moya et al. (2022) now prove the same link in high-schoolers and add the bridge idea: metacognition carries social and mood gains into real life.

Ivy et al. (2017) found social problems sit between executive deficits and loneliness.

The new study flips the order: social and anxiety issues feed metacognition, which then feeds daily skills.

Together they draw a chain: EF → social → metacognition → self-management.

Donoso et al. (2024) show the social-adaptive link across ages 3-18.

S et al. narrow the window to diploma-track teens and name the hidden step inside that link.

If you work with bright autistic high-schoolers, do not stop at social-skills groups or anxiety counseling.

Add brief metacognitive checks: “What’s your plan?” “How will you know you’re done?”

These tiny questions may unlock the carry-over from your social or CBT sessions into real homework, laundry, and job tasks.