Future thinking in tinnitus patients

ObjectiveThe purpose of the study was to investigate future thinking in a group of tinnitus patients. It was predicted that participants in the tinnitus group would report fewer positive future events.MethodsA cross-sectional design was used. Two groups of participants completed the test session: tinnitus patients (n=20) and healthy controls (n=20) without tinnitus. Participants completed measures of anticipation of future positive and negative experiences, anxiety and depression. In addition, participants with tinnitus completed a test of tinnitus annoyance.ResultsTinnitus participants generated a greater number of negative future events compared to the controls. There was no difference between the groups on positive future events or on self-reported anxiety, but the tinnitus group scored higher on a depression measure. Controlling for depression scores removed the group difference.ConclusionsWhile the groups differed on future thinking, the difference concerned negative events, which suggests that anxious information processing might be important in explaining tinnitus annoyance. Levels of depressive symptoms should, however, be considered.