An individual's level of neuroticism, alongside stressful life events, can be influential predictors of future psychopathology, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, and other forms of mental illness. People who score high on neuroticism respond to incidences with elevated levels of distress, concern, and anxiety, creating a risk for many forms of psychopathology, mainly anxiety and mood disorders.  Recurrent expressions of worry, upset, and vulnerability from the individual cause this person to make poor decisions or lead others to react negatively, resulting in the reinforcement and the escalation of the original distress. Neuroticism can negatively affect relationships, influence the development of physical health issues and financial troubles, and cause many other aversive life outcomes. This will lead to substantial amounts of stress, which individuals with high neuroticism would have inherent emotional difficulty dealing with.

Neuroticism as a Predictor of Future Psychopathology 

Neuroticism is one of the Big Five personality traits that has the most significant association with numerous forms of psychopathology, in particular, anxiety and mood disorders in addition to their comorbidity.

State University of New York at Albany

Neuroticism is a major dimension of the Big Five personality model that describes a general inclination to experience negative emotional states, such as anxiety, anger, and sadness. This psychological construct is composed of six narrower facets—worry, anger, discouragement, self-consciousness, impulsivity, and vulnerability—and research indicates it has a genetic basis, remains relatively stable, and correlates with physical symptoms.

Neuroticism

Castellanos-Ryan, N., Brière, F. N., O'Leary-Barrett, M., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A., Bromberg, U., Büchel, C., Flor, H., Frouin, V., Gallinat, J., Garavan, H., Martinot, J.-L., Nees, F., Paus, T., Pausova, Z., Rietschel, M., Smolka, M. N., Robbins, T. W., Whelan, R., . . . The IMAGEN Consortium. (2016). The structure of psychopathology in adolescence and its common personality and cognitive correlates. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(8), 1039–1052. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000193

Neuroticism and Psychopathology Correlation Reference

Reference for The Relationship Between Neuroticism and Psychopathology

Neuroticism and Psychopathology Correlation

Research has found a link between high levels of neuroticism and the self-reporting of negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on the neuroticism trait are also more likely to report feelings of anxiety and unhappiness.

Correlation between Neuroticism and Negative Feelings

Read the following description of an individual's typical behavior. Identify the personality dimension that best explains this pattern of emotional response and justify your answer using specific examples from the text.

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