Autistic traits, emotion regulation, and sensory sensitivities in children and adults with Misophonia

Abstract

Misophonia is an unusually strong aversion to everyday sounds such as chewing, crunching, or breathing. Previous studies have suggested that rates of autism might be elevated in misophonia, and here we examine this claim in detail. We present a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, and two empirical studies examining children and adults with misophonia. We tested 142 children and 379 adults for traits associated with autism (i.e., attention-to-detail, attention-switching, social processing, communication, imagination, emotion regulation, and sensory sensitivity across multiple domains). Our data show that autistic traits are indeed elevated in misophonics compared to controls. We discuss our findings in relation to models of the interface between autism, sensory sensitivities, and the specific features of misophonia.

The central role of symptom severity and associated characteristics for functional impairment in misophonia

“…This study is adding a comparison group study to the existing evidence and it suggests mostly more severe reactions in the clinical compared to the non−/subclinical group (16,19) and extends findings on emotion regulation (22) to interpersonal emotion regulation skills. However, as in (48), there is also evidence for qualitative differences, e.g., in emotional reactions to misophonic stimuli.…”

A phenomenological cartography of misophonia and other forms of sound intolerance

“…That is, it is conceivable that sound intolerances in misophonia, hyperacusis, and autism all stem from a general sensory hyper-sensitivity that, whilst strongest for sounds, is by no means limited to it. 31 , 32 , 33 In effect, generalized sensory hyper-sensitivity may be a common seed from which somewhat different profiles emerge during development. A comorbidity between misophonia and ASMR is harder to understand as layering of different profiles because they would tend to cancel each other out (e.g., ASMR responders report high pleasure and soothing, and misophonics report the opposite).…”

Effectiveness of an innovative treatment protocol for misophonia in children and adolescents: Design of a randomized controlled trial

“…Recently, research was conducted into the clinical characteristics of misophonia in children and adolescents [ [9] , [10] , [11] ]. Within a sample of 102 adolescents with misophonia (8-17 years-old), 79% of patients met the criteria for at least one other psychiatric diagnosis, with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD being the most prevalent [ 10 ].…”

“…Within a sample of 102 adolescents with misophonia (8-17 years-old), 79% of patients met the criteria for at least one other psychiatric diagnosis, with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD being the most prevalent [ 10 ]. Another study with a relatively small, population based sample of 15 adolescents with misophonia (10-14 years-old) reported higher rates of autistic characteristics [ 11 ]. However, the relationship between autism and misophonia appeared less specific in the larger sample of Guzick and colleagues [ 10 ].…”

“…Indeed, it was found that adolescents with misophonia experience greater (parent reported) sensory hypersensitivity across different domains (e.g. in tactile or visual senses) and greater emotional dysregulation in response to negative emotions [ 11 ], however more research is warranted to discover the exact mechanisms involved in misophonia in youth [ 10 ].…”