Abstract
It is well established that emotions influence tinnitus, but the role of emotion dynamics remains unclear. The present study investigated emotion dynamics in N = 306 users of the “TrackYourTinnitus” application who completed the Mini-Tinnitus Questionnaire (Mini-TQ) at one assessment point and provided complete data on at least five assessment points for the following state variables: tinnitus loudness, tinnitus distress, arousal, valence. The repeated arousal and valence ratings were used for two operationalizations of emotion dynamics: intra-individual variability of affect intensity (pulse) as well as intra-individual variability of affect quality (spin). Pearson correlation coefficients showed that the Mini-TQ was positively correlated with pulse (r = 0.19; p < 0.05) as well as with spin (r = 0.12; p < 0.05). Multilevel models revealed the following results: increases in tinnitus loudness were more strongly associated with increases in tinnitus distress at higher levels of pulse as well as at higher levels of spin (both p < 0.05), whereby increases in tinnitus loudness correlated even stronger with increases in tinnitus distress when both pulse as well as spin were high (p < 0.05). Moreover, increases in spin were associated with a less favorable time course of tinnitus loudness (p < 0.05). To conclude, equilibrating emotion dynamics might be a potential target in the prevention and treatment of tinnitus.
Highlights
Tinnitus, the perception of sound in the absence of a corresponding physical sound source, has prevalence rates ranging from 2 to 26%1–4 and the prevalence rates appear to increase over time[5]
This study investigated associations between emotion dynamics and tinnitus in the daily life of tinnitus sufferers using the “TrackYourTinnitus” (TYT) smartphone application
We found that pulse as well as spin are positively correlated with tinnitus-related psychological problems (Mini-TQ) and that pulse as well as spin moderate the effect of tinnitus loudness on tinnitus distress: increases in tinnitus loudness were more strongly associated with increases in tinnitus distress at higher levels of pulse as well as at higher levels of spin, whereby higher pulse in combination with higher spin was most detrimental regarding the loudness-distress relationship
Summary
The perception of sound in the absence of a corresponding physical sound source, has prevalence rates ranging from 2 to 26%1–4 and the prevalence rates appear to increase over time[5]. G., depression, brain networks) are differently associated with tinnitus loudness and tinnitus distress fit to the moderate statistical correlations between these two tinnitus components (r = 0.45–0.52) found in large surveys[8,11]. Depressed mood had no significant mediating effect in their study This is in contrast to the result that “not feeling low/depressed” was strongly associated with low distress despite high loudness in a large survey[11]. Previous studies already explored psychological factors influencing the time course of tinnitus[22,23,24], these studies focused on treatment-seeking patients, did not use ecological momentary assessments, and did not take emotion dynamics into consideration. (1) Emotion dynamics are positively correlated with tinnitus-related psychological problems. (2) Emotion dynamics moderate the effect of tinnitus loudness on tinnitus distress in a way that tinnitus loudness affects tinnitus distress more strongly in tinnitus sufferers with more emotion dynamics. (3) Increased emotion dynamics are associated with a less favorable time course of tinnitus
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