Effectiveness of Online Group-mindfulness and Acceptance‐based Therapy and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy on Misophonia

Abstract

Background: Misophonia is a disorder in which people show negative emotions such as anger, disgust, and anxiety about certain sounds, such as mouth and nose sounds, as well as some repetitive sounds. This disorder has a high prevalence and causes many problems for patients. Objectives: This study aimed to examine and compare the effectiveness of two therapies, including online group-mindfulness and acceptance‐based therapy (OG-MACT) and online group-cognitive-behavioral therapy (OG-CBT) in patients with misophonia. Methods: This study was a two-group random assignment pretest-posttest design. Thirty-eight participants were recruited using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to OG-CBT (n = 19) and OG-MACT (n = 19) groups. The statistical population included patients with misophonia (a score higher than seven on the Misophonia Questionnaire) referred to the Tehran Institute of Psychiatry from October to December 2019. They were asked to respond to online self-report questionnaires evaluating misophonia, distress tolerance, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress scale in three stages, including before treatment sessions, one week after the end of sessions, and during a three-month follow-up. Results: The difference in the mean scores of the scales at different times did not differ according to the type of treatment group (OG-CBT versus OG-MACT). The results showed that the effect of time was significant on misophonia scores. Over time, this finding also applies to depression, anxiety, and stress subscales in the distress tolerance questionnaire. However, there was no significant difference in the quality of life over time. The changes in misophonia were clinically significant in 53% of OG-MACT members and 69% of OG-CBT members. Discussion: According to the findings, the two online group therapies of CBT and MACT effectively reduced the symptoms of misophonia.

Current Trends in the Treatment of Misophonia

“…The other ways of managing misophonia are compassion training, distress tolerance, and acceptance-based therapies Arch 2015, Ferrer-Torres andGiménez-Llort 2022). In a study by Ghorbani et al (2022), the effects of online acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and online CBT methods on the symptoms and quality of life of misophonia were examined and compared. Although no significant difference was found between the two treatment methods, it was observed that the symptoms of misophonia, anxiety, stress, and depression decreased, and distress tolerance increased (Ghorbani et al 2022).…”

“…In a study by Ghorbani et al (2022), the effects of online acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and online CBT methods on the symptoms and quality of life of misophonia were examined and compared. Although no significant difference was found between the two treatment methods, it was observed that the symptoms of misophonia, anxiety, stress, and depression decreased, and distress tolerance increased (Ghorbani et al 2022). In the literature, ACT provided a decrease in both symptoms of misophonia and depressive symptoms in a 12-year-old girl (Petersen and Twohig 2023) and a decrease in symptoms of misophonia in a 17-year-old boy (Schneider and Arch 2017).…”