A nomological network for misophonia in two German samples using the S-Five model for misophonia

Abstract

The Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome Scale (S-Five) is a contemporary and multidimensional self-report instrument measuring different aspects of misophonia. The five-factor scale consists of 25 items measuring the severity of the misophonic experience. The items capture misophonia in relation to internalising and externalising appraisals, perceived threat, aggressive behavior (outbursts), and adverse impact on individuals’ lives. It is complemented by a trigger checklist (S-Five-T), measuring the emotional nature and intensity of reactions to sensory triggers. In this work, we administered the S-Five in two German samples with a majority of individuals with significant misophonia. The S-Five and the supplementary S-Five-T were both translated into German using a rigorous translation procedure (i.e., TRAPD) and were separately tested in large German community samples. Psychometric analyses included the evaluation of the factor structure, measurement invariance with respect to age and gender, reliability (internal consistency and stability over time), and an extensive examination of the construct validity in a proposed nomological network. The nomological network we explore in this work consists of several constructs including different misophonic manifestations, anger and aggression, disgust propensity, anxiety sensitivity, depression, obsessive–compulsive traits, and functional impairment in different life domains. Results indicate evidence in line with the nomological network as demonstrated by strong correlations between the S-Five dimensions and convergent measures. All S-Five dimensions strongly correlated with overall misophonic symptoms (r ≥ 0.53). Internalising appraisals were highly associated with insight into excessive or disproportionate reactions to sounds (r ≥ 0.59), externalising appraisals with anger and irritability (r ≥ 0.46), threat with trait anxiety and dysregulation facets (r ≥ 0.62), aggressive behavior (outbursts) with anger and behavioral dysregulation (r ≥ 0.70), and impact with distress and functional impairment (r ≥ 0.64). The results demonstrate that the S-Five has a robust five-factor structure and allows to draw reliable and valid conclusions about misophonic experiences in German samples. The proposed nomological network gives an initial insight into the nature of misophonia and provides a formalized fundament to develop and test further hypotheses about misophonia in a more sophisticated and symptom-oriented way.

Misophonia in the UK: Prevalence and norms from the S-Five in a UK representative sample

“…correlation with the total S-Five and the A-MISO-S, providing further evidence that responding with irritation is not a good indicator of the presence of misophonia [22,55]. Additionally, irritation was not correlated with any of the other negative emotion reaction counts (anger, disgust, distress and panic), nor with symptoms of anxiety and depression, all of which were moderately correlated with each other and with S-five total scores.…”

“…The second key difference is in the nature of the reaction, with anger and panic reported more often in misophonia [ 22 ]. We found that irritation was frequently reported by the general population for a range of sounds, and that the irritation reaction count had only a low correlation with the total S-Five and the A-MISO-S, providing further evidence that responding with irritation is not a good indicator of the presence of misophonia [ 22 , 55 ]. Additionally, irritation was not correlated with any of the other negative emotion reaction counts (anger, disgust, distress and panic), nor with symptoms of anxiety and depression, all of which were moderately correlated with each other and with S-five total scores.…”

The effect of misophonia on cognitive and social judgments

“…Selective sound sensitivity syndrome scale (S5). Additionally, the S5 [8] was chosen because of its ability to capture subfactors of misophonia experiences (externalizing, internalizing, impact, outburst, and threat) and its successful usage in multiple languages, including English (U.K.), German, and Mandarin [26][27][28]. The S5 contains five questions for each of the five subfactors, e.g., externalizing: "People should not make certain sounds, even if they do not know about others' sensitivities"; internalizing: "The way I react to certain sounds makes me wonder whether deep inside I am just a bad person"; impact: "My job opportunities are limited because of my reaction to certain noises"; outburst: "I can get so angry at certain noises that I get physically aggressive towards people to make them stop"; threat: "I feel trapped if I cannot get away from certain noises".…”

Psychometric Evaluation and Misophonic Experience in a Portuguese-Speaking Sample

“…Tigger sounds tend to be pattern-based and repetitive [5,6,13,14], and reactions can be influenced by the context and the particular meaning that sound has to the individual [15,16]. Emotional reactions include anger, disgust [8,13,14,17], or anxiety and panic [12,18,19]. Some studies reported irritation as a primary response [8], while others found a negative association between misophonia severity and an irritation response to triggers [12,18,20].…”

“…Emotional reactions include anger, disgust [8,13,14,17], or anxiety and panic [12,18,19]. Some studies reported irritation as a primary response [8], while others found a negative association between misophonia severity and an irritation response to triggers [12,18,20]. Misophonia causes significant impairment in daily social and occupational functioning [15,19,21].…”