Social connectedness has been associated with mental health outcomes. One study proposed that social connectedness influences mental health only indirectly because it is associated with a protective factor - trust. In The Eurobodalla Study, we studied the relationships between trust and distress in a community sample of adults living in the southern coast of New South Wales. A random sample of 963 people aged 18-97 completed a self-report questionnaire. Greater trust was associated with less distress, but the patterns of association differed between women and men, and three generations. Women reported greater trust than did men and older Australians reported less distress and greater trust than younger people. In addition, living with someone else, as opposed to living alone, living with dependent children under 18 years old, and not having adult dependents, were generally associated with higher levels of trust and also with lower levels of distress. However, there were marked differences between generations in the effects of these household composition factors on levels of trust and distress.