Summary: Yes, sensitive people are more likely to develop anxiety and depression than people who don’t meet criteria for trait sensitivity. Personality traits influence how people see and experience the world, with specific traits associated with specific mental health and behavioral disorders.
Key Points:
- Personality traits can influence the development of mental health disorders.
- Most studies on the relationship between “The Big 5” personality traits and mental health.
- Traits combine in various ways to influence behavior and mental health.
- A new study examines the impact of a lesser-studied trait on mental health: sensitivity.
Sensitive People and Anxiety and Depression
When we say sensitive people, what we mean is that some people have a personality trait that makes them more responsive to external stimuli of various types than people who aren’t necessarily sensitive. We’re not simply talking about people who get their feelings hurt easily or people who take everything way too seriously. We’re talking about people for whom sensitivity is a core part of their personality, across a range of experience, from physical stimuli to internal and external emotional stimuli.
For these people, sensitivity is genuine. It’s not something they need to cultivate.
It’s a core part of who they are, how they behave, how they interact with the world, and how they relate to the people in it.
In September 2025, a group of researchers in the United Kingdom designed a review study called “The Relationship Between Environmental Sensitivity and Common Mental-Health Problems in Adolescents and Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” in order to learn more about the relationships between sensitive people and anxiety and depression, and determine whether sensitive people are more likely to have anxiety and depression.
Here’s how they introduce their research:
“In this study, we systematically reviewed literature on sensitivity and mental-health outcomes and conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the relationship of sensitivity with depression and anxiety.”
Before we dive into the details of the study, we’ll take a moment to discuss the concept at the core of the research.
Personality Traits and Mental Health Are Connected
Previous research shows that at least one of the Big 5 Personality Traits is associated with increased likelihood of specific mental health disorders. Here are the Big 5 traits:
- Openness, characterized by creativity and a sense of adventure.
- Conscientiousness, characterized by thoughtfulness, responsibility, and being organized.
- Extraversion, characterized by high levels of sociability, talkativeness, excitability, and expressiveness.
- Agreeableness, characterized by friendliness, kindness, and cooperativeness.
- Neuroticism, characterized by irritability, anxiety, sadness, and emotional instability.
For instance, evidence shows the personality trait neuroticism is associated with increased instances of internalizing disorders, including but not limited to:
- Major depressive disorder (MDD)
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Panic disorder (PD)
- Phobias
In addition, a trait like extraversion, when combined with neuroticism, may increase the likelihood of alcohol or substance misuse. The study authors identify another personality trait that’s not one of the Big 5 but may also have a significant impact on mental health: trait sensitivity. Experts define trait sensitivity as follows:
“A heightened degree of sensitivity to physical, emotional, and social stimuli, such as bright lights, subtle changes in the environment, and other people’s moods, combined with deeper cognitive processing of such sensory stimulation.”
The study authors further indicate that about 31 percent of people in the general population are considered highly sensitive, which explains the need for understanding whether sensitive people are more likely to have anxiety and depression. If close to 1/3rd of people are at increased risk, that’s something mental health providers – and the general public – should know about and understand.
About The Study: Trait Sensitivity, Anxiety, and Depression
To explore the connection between trait sensitivity and anxiety and depression, the research team examined records from 33 studies with data on over 12,000 people with an average age of 25 years old. Two studies provided data from people in treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and people with acute, accident-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The majority of subjects in the study were from the general population, which included a significant percentage of college students.
To assess sensitivity, 27 of the studies used a metric called the Highly Sensitive Persons Scale (HSPS) and six used the Highly Sensitive Child Scale (HSCS). To assess anxiety and depression, the studies used a wide range of standard anxiety and depression metrics, such as the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BD-II), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), the UCLA Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index, and others.
After exhaustive statistical analysis, the research team identified positive associations between trait sensitivity and the following mental health disorders:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Social phobia
- Agoraphobia
- Psychosomatic symptoms
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Avoidant personality disorder
For all disorders mentioned above, researchers identified positive, moderate associations, with moderate and significant associations identified between sensitivity, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, the data in this large-scale analysis confirms the hypothesis that sensitivity is associated with anxiety and depression.
Or, in other words:
Sensitive people are more likely to develop anxiety and depression than people without default trait sensitivity.
We’ll discuss these results further, below.
How This Research Helps
Here’s how Professor Michael Pluess, a lead author and researcher on the study, describes their findings:
“This is the first meta-analysis providing robust evidence that highly sensitive people are more prone to common mental health problems. Our results provide further evidence that sensitive people are more affected by both negative and positive experiences and that the quality of their environment is particularly important for their well-being.”
What that means for us is that when we assess an individual, knowledge of their personality traits, especially sensitivity, can inform our assessment process. But that’s not all. It can inform treatment, too.
Professor Pluess continues:
‘It’s important to remember that highly sensitive people are also more responsive to positive experiences, including psychological treatment.”
Therefore, as mental health treatment providers, we can increase our awareness of the role of sensitivity in during therapy, and tailor our approach to better support people with high levels of trait sensitivity. The more we know about a patient, the more comprehensively we can support them, meet their needs, and help them on the road to recovery.
Gianna Melendez
Jodie Dahl, CpHT