Table 4.

Thinking styles reported by students in their lockdown digital narrative diaries.

Thinking styles	Student sample (N = 103)	Some examples from narrative diaries
Intolerance of uncertainty	47 (45.6 %)	“The frequent unpleasant thought is that of not being able to achieve my goals, because I have the feeling that my life is in stand-by right now, it does not go forward or backward.” (User 88)“I am worried about uncertainty, having to always be careful and fear even when going out respecting the rules that something can happen or become infected. I am also worried that according to experts the “peak” has still arrived and therefore the situation has yet to get worse.” (User 54)
Optimistic style	27 (26.2%)	“This situation is allowing me to spend a lot of time on myself and on my well-being, something that I haven't been able to do for a long time”. (User 88)“I try to get strength every day with my family, helping each other and not letting ourselves be discouraged. There is a bit of concern, but for now nothing that I can't manage easily. I think we need to be confident, and everything will be fine.” (User 15)
All or nothing/devaluation of self or others	25 (24.3%)	“In my days, there is no margin of error although apparently I may seem relaxed and available for recreational activities (walks, sports, lunch with my girlfriend), whenever a break lasts too long or that I wake up late in the morning or that I take the phone for whatever reason the whole day in my mind has been lost and there is no possibility of correction, it is all lost now.” (User 62)“In this difficult situation, I am not doing anything to help people! I'm a useless person!!!” (User 13)
Catastrophizing/overestimation of risk	10 (9.7 %)	“All the sacrifices I made to be a better person, the person I wanted to be, all the good intentions and progress that I made in the last year, after years of dissatisfaction and sadness, vanished. Now there is nothing left, I feel failed and oppressed. I don't know if I will ever be able to get my life back in hand as I was able to do after so many efforts. Chest pain will probably not stop with the end of the quarantine.” (User 52)“I am concerned about not returning to a “normal” situation, the fact that they do not give us back our freedoms, it makes me feel bad not to be able to do this or that. I have a feeling that this situation will never change and that torments me.” (User 89)“I am currently concerned about the situation that the whole nation is experiencing. In particular, I am afraid that some family member or loved one (myself included) could be infected without the possibility of being treated and in the worst case, of dying in total solitude. Often, I happen to imagine the consequences that may occur in the future, especially in a situation in which even the basic needs will start to fail and we will be reduced to living in conditions of pure subsistence. Or sometimes I think that if they were to reopen every national structure and everything were to return to normal, there could be contagions and relapses again especially for us students who will have to attend public and crowded places like the university.” (User 26)