The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility in the Relationship between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Subjective Well-Being in High School Students during the COVID 19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought some uncertain and new changes in life patterns. These changes have had psychological effects on high school students as well as in all age groups. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between intolerance of uncertainty and subjective well-being in high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants of the study consisted of 437 high school students (234 females and 203 males) in Turkey. They completed measures of intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive flexibility, and adolescent subjective well-being. The hypothetical model developed in order to determine whether cognitive flexibility mediates in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and subjective well-being was tested through Structural Equation Modeling. The results of the study revealed that intolerance of uncertainty had a significant direct effect on subjective well-being. Cognitive flexibility partially mediated the association between intolerance of uncertainty and subjective well-being for the high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practitioners can create psychoeducational programs to decrease intolerance of uncertainty and increase the cognitive flexibility levels of the students. The practitioners can apply these programs to high school students.