Anxiety sensitivity, distress tolerance, and discomfort intolerance have been identified as important factors related to alcohol use motives and alcohol-related problems. Yet, these variables are highly correlated and little work has delineated whether these psychological vulnerability factors are differentially related to alcohol use motives and problems. To fill this gap in the existing literature, the present study evaluated whether anxiety sensitivity, distress tolerance, and discomfort intolerance were differentially related to high-risk alcohol use motives (i.e., coping and conformity motives) and alcohol use problems among 224 young adult, current drinkers (52.3% women; M age = 21.18, SD = 7.08). Results indicated that distress tolerance, but not anxiety sensitivity or discomfort intolerance, was significantly related to coping motives for alcohol use. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity, but not distress tolerance or discomfort intolernace, was significantly related to conformity motives for drinking. For both sets of analyses, the observed significant effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by alcohol consumption level, smoking rate, negative affectivity, and noncriterion alcohol use motives. Additionally, discomfort intolerance and anxiety sensitivity each predicted alcohol use problems; effects were not attributable to negative affectivity, cigarettes smoked per day, or shared variance with distress tolerance. Findings are discussed in relation to the role of emotional sensitivity and intolerance in terms of the motivational bases for alcohol use and alcohol use problems among young adult drinkers. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Michael J. Zvolensky, Ph.D. Dr. Zvolensky can be contacted at The University of Vermont, Department of Psychology, 2 Colchester Avenue, John Dewey Hall, Burlington,. Electronic mail may be sent to Michael.Zvolensky@uvm.edu.. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of arousal-related sensations, arising from beliefs that the sensations have adverse consequences such as death, insanity, or social rejection (Reiss, Peterson, Gursky & McNally, 1986). Anxiety sensitivity may play a key role in certain aspects of alcohol use and alcohol use problems. Indeed, higher compared to lower anxiety sensitivity levels are related to weekly drinking rates and excessive drinking episodes, as well as alcohol use disorders (AUD; Schmidt, Buckner, & Keough, 2007;Stewart, Samoluk, & MacDonald, 1999).Extant data also ...