Multiple mediating effects of intolerance of uncertainty, obsessive-compulsive and generalized anxiety on neuroticism and insomnia in college students

Objective To explore composited multiple mediating effects of intolerance of uncertainty, generalized anxiety symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms between neuroticism and insomnia. Methods In this study, 405 university students were evaluated using several questionnaires, including Athens Insomnia Scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and Obsessive-compulsive.Inventory-Revised and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale for Chinese. Results The scores of Athens Insomnia Scale(4.07±2.57), Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale(72.33±14.42), The Penn State Worry Questionnaire(40.57±10.35), Compulsive Activity Checklist-Revised(1.60±1.45) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scal(4.86±3.22) were positively correlated with each other(r=0.18~0.64, P 0.05; CFI=0.99; GFI=0.99; NFI=0.99; NNFI(TLI)=0.97; RMSEA=0.05. The results indicated that neuroticism directly affected insomnia(effect size 0.125), neuroticism affects insomnia through generalized anxiety symptoms(effect size 0.082) and obsessive-compulsive symptoms(effect size 0.053) respectively. Thus, generalized anxiety symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were parallel mediators.Neuroticism affects generalized anxiety symptoms through intolerance of uncertainty, and then affected the insomnia(effect size 0.022). And neuroticism affected obsessive-compulsive symptoms through intolerance of uncertainty, and then affected the insomnia(effect size 0.014). Conclusion The neuroticism personality of university students can influence insomnia through the multiple mediation model of intolerance of uncertainty, generalized anxiety symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Key words: Neuroticism; Insomnia; Intolerance of uncertainty; Generalized anxiety symptoms; Obsessive-compulsive symptoms; Multiple mediation model