title: Emotion dynamics and tinnitus: Daily life data from the "TrackYourTinnitus" application.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Regensburg University, Germany.|Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.affiliation: Institute of Databases and Information System, Ulm University, Germany.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pryss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Regensburg University, Germany.
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Langguth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Regensburg University, Germany.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schlee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000503:physiopathology*