The impact of hearing loss on trajectories of depressive symptoms in married couples

Jessica S West; Sherri L Smith; Matthew E Dupre

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115780

The impact of hearing loss on trajectories of depressive symptoms in married couples

Soc Sci Med. 2023 Mar:321:115780. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115780. Epub 2023 Feb 14.

Authors

Jessica S West¹, Sherri L Smith², Matthew E Dupre³

Affiliations

¹ Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Electronic address: jessie.west@duke.edu.
² Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
³ Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Abstract

Hearing loss is a prevalent chronic stressor among older adults and is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The life course principle of linked lives highlights that an individual's stressors can impact the health and well-being of others; however, there are limited large-scale studies examining hearing loss within marital dyads. Using 11 waves (1998-2018) of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 4881 couples), we estimate age-based mixed models to examine how 1) one's own hearing, 2) one's spouse's hearing, or 3) both spouses' hearing influence changes in depressive symptoms. For men, their wives' hearing loss, their own hearing loss, and both spouses having hearing loss are associated with increased depressive symptoms. For women, their own hearing loss and both spouses having hearing loss are associated with increased depressive symptoms, but their husbands' hearing loss is not. The connections between hearing loss and depressive symptoms within couples are a dynamic process that unfolds differently by gender over time.

Keywords: Depressive symptoms; Health and Retirement Study; Hearing loss; Life course; Linked lives; Spouses.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Aged
Depression / epidemiology
Depression / etiology
Female
Hearing Loss* / complications
Hearing Loss* / epidemiology
Humans
Male
Marriage
Retirement
Spouses*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding