Need for cognitive closure and positive mental health among Italian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A multi-level analysis

Studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period of pervasive uncertainty, showed that individuals with a high Need For cognitive Closure (NFC) were exposed to higher risk of mental illness. The relationship between NFC and well-being was instead underexplored. This study was thus aimed to investigate the association of NFC with the emotional, social, and psychological components of positive mental health during the first pandemic outbreak. Italian university students (N = 1799) completed the Need for Cognitive Closure Scale, the Mental Health Continuum Short Form, and a socio-demographic survey. Adopting a multilevel modelling approach, the predictive role of NFC on participants' mental health was investigated, considering their study curricula. Results showed that the NFC dimensions of need for order and decisiveness were positively associated with all mental health components, while need for predictability, intolerance for ambiguity, and close-mindedness were negatively associated with them. Extending previous evidence of the relationship between NFC and mental illness, these results confirm the usefulness of distinguishing mental health and mental illness and identifying their shared and specific trait predictors.