Anxiety Sensitivity and Distress Tolerance Mediating Associations of Neuroticism and Psychiatric Symptoms

College students demonstrate high rates of depression, anxiety and alcohol consumption. Neuroticism consistently predicts onset of psychiatric symptoms; however, our understanding of malleable risk characteristics that mediate associations between neuroticism and psychiatric symptoms is limited. The current study aimed to investigate whether anxiety sensitivity (AS) and/or distress tolerance (DT) mediated relationships between neuroticism and psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, and alcohol use) in a high-risk sample of college students. Participants were 316 college students (75.9% women) with a history of interpersonal trauma exposure and current alcohol use who were participating in a university-wide longitudinal study of emotional health. Participants completed measures assessing personality, AS, DT, and psychiatric symptoms (including depression, anxiety, and alcohol consumption) over four time points spanning an average of 26 months. Results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that DT, but not AS, mediated relationships between neuroticism and depression, as well as neuroticism and anxiety. Neither DT nor AS mediated the relationship between neuroticism and alcohol consumption. These findings contribute to our understanding of the development of depression and anxiety in trauma-exposed college students with elevated trait neuroticism.