Social Anxiety, Negative Affect, and Hearing Difficulties in Adults.
Katrina Kate S McClannahan, Sarah McConkey, Julia M Levitan and 2 others
PMID 39915977WHAT IT FOUND
Adults reporting higher social anxiety and negative affect reported significantly greater hearing handicap.
Self-reported hearing loss status accounted for the largest share of variance, but social anxiety remained a unique predictor, suggesting psychological factors influence perceived communication difficulty independent of hearing sensitivity.
Key findings
01Higher levels of social anxiety and negative affect were significantly associated with higher self-reported hearing handicap.
02In regression models including age, negative affect, and social anxiety, all three variables made unique and significant contributions to hearing handicap scores.
03Adding self-reported hearing loss status to the model increased the explained variance in hearing handicap from 32% to 63%, with hearing loss status, negative affect, and social anxiety all remaining significant predictors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if social anxiety causes hearing handicap, if hearing handicap causes social anxiety, or if both stem from a third factor. Hearing status was determined by self-report rather than objective pure-tone audiometry, so the link between perceived handicap and actual hearing loss severity is not directly measured. The sample was recruited online and via social media, which may not represent the general population of adults with hearing loss, particularly older adults who are less likely to use these platforms.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for this research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that treating social anxiety will directly improve hearing sensitivity or that hearing aids will resolve social anxiety. The study shows an association between perceived handicap and anxiety, but it does not prove that reducing anxiety will improve the patient's actual ability to hear, nor does it confirm the direction of causality.