Self-Reported Hearing Loss and Expressions of Anger in U.S. Older Adults

Purpose: Hearing loss is the most prevalent sensory disability in older adults and has been linked to various forms of psychological distress. However, the extent to which hearing loss contributes to anger remains unclear. This study investigated the association between self-reported hearing loss and expressions of anger in U.S. males and females. Method: We examined data from a nationally representative prospective cohort of older adults in the 2006–2012 Health and Retirement Study ( n = 10,664). Hearing status was assessed at each wave by self-reported hearing loss (higher scores indicated greater hearing loss). Outcomes included internalized anger (anger-in) and externalized anger (anger-out) scales based on participants' reported frequency of anger (range: 1–4). Linear mixed models were used to estimate anger scores while adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Results: Among study participants ( M age = 66.77 years [±9.06]), males were more likely to report worse hearing compared to females (1.77 [1.08] vs. 1.40 [0.99]) and had greater levels of anger at baseline than females. Multivariable mixed models showed that worse hearing was associated with significantly greater levels of anger-in (β = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.03, 0.05], p < .001) and anger-out (β = 0.03, 95% CI [0.03, 0.04], p < .001). There was no significant sex difference in anger-in (interaction p = .362); however, males with worse hearing reported greater levels of anger-out than females (interaction p = .010). The associations remained largely unchanged after accounting for covariates. Conclusion: Results demonstrate the influence of hearing loss on anger and suggest that interventions for anger management may promote healthy aging in U.S. males and females with hearing loss. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.32292633