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Sensory-processing sensitivity predicts fatigue from listening, but not perceived effort, in young and older adults
Mattys, S.
Mattys, S.
Publication Date
2023-02
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openAccess
Accepted for publication
2022-10-18
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Abstract
Purpose: Listening-related fatigue is a potential negative consequence of challenges experienced during everyday listening, and may disproportionately affect older adults. Contrary to expectation, we recently found that increased reports of listening-related fatigue were associated with better performance on a dichotic listening task (McGarrigle et al., 2021a). However, this link was found only in individuals who reported heightened sensitivity to a variety of physical, social, and emotional stimuli (i.e., increased ‘sensory-processing sensitivity’; SPS). The current study examined whether perceived effort may underlie the link between performance and fatigue.
Methods: 206 young adults, aged 18-30 years (Experiment 1) and 122 older adults, aged 60-80 years (Experiment 2) performed a dichotic listening task and were administered a series of questionnaires including: the NASA task load index of perceived effort, the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale (measuring daily life listening-related fatigue) and the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (measuring SPS). Both experiments were completed online.
Results: SPS predicted listening-related fatigue but perceived effort during the listening task was not associated with SPS or listening-related fatigue in either age group. We were also unable to replicate the interaction between dichotic listening performance and SPS in either group. Exploratory analyses revealed contrasting effects of age; older adults found the dichotic listening task more effortful, but indicated lower overall fatigue.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that SPS is a better predictor of listening-related fatigue than performance or effort ratings on a dichotic listening task. SPS may be an important factor in determining an individual’s likelihood of experiencing listening-related fatigue irrespective of hearing or cognitive ability.
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Accepted manuscript
Citation
McGarrigle R & Mattys S (2023) Sensory-processing sensitivity predicts fatigue from listening, but not perceived effort, in young and older adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 66(2): 444-460.
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Article