Misophonia in Singaporean Psychiatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic is a public health emergency of international concern and poses a challenge to psychological resilience. Research data are needed to develop evidence-driven strategies to reduce adverse psychological impacts and psychiatric symptoms during the epidemic. Results: This study included 1210 respondents from 194 cities in China. In total, 53.8% of respondents rated the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate or severe; 16.5% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 28.8% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 8.1% reported moderate to severe stress levels. Most respondents spent 20-24 h per day at home (84.7%); were worried about their family members contracting COVID-19 (75.2%); and were satisfied with the amount of health information available (75.1%). Female gender, student status, specific physical symptoms (e.g., myalgia, dizziness, coryza), and poor self-rated health status were significantly associated with a greater psychological impact of the outbreak and higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (p < 0.05). Specific up-to-date and accurate health information (e.g., treatment, local outbreak situation) and particular precautionary measures (e.g., hand hygiene, wearing a mask) were associated with a lower psychological impact of the outbreak and lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (p < 0.05). Conclusions: During the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, more than half of the respondents rated the psychological impact as moderate-to-severe, and about one-third reported moderate-to-severe anxiety. Our findings identify factors associated with a lower level of psychological impact and better mental health status that can be used to formulate psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Section: Survey Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China

Wang

Pan

Wan

et al. 2020

“…Mental health was measured using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21) [15].The DASS has been demonstrated to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing mental health in the Chinese population [6,16,17], and it has been applied in studies related to the SARS outbreak [18]. The DASS-21 is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress.…”

Section: Psychological Impact and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The DASS-21 obtained high reliabilities in the Italian validation study, with Cronbach's alphas of 0.74, 0.82, and 0.85 for the Anxiety, Depression, and Stress subscales, respectively; Cronbach's alpha for the total scales was 0.90. In the Lovibond and Lovibond version of the DASS-21 [19], the subscales are scored as follows: normal (0-9), mild (10-12), moderate (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), severe (21-27), and extremely severe (28-42) for Depression; normal (0-6), mild (7-9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe (20-42) for Anxiety; and normal (0-10), mild (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18), moderate (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), severe (27-34), and extremely severe (35-42) for Stress.…”

Section: Psychological Impact and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Nationwide Survey of Psychological Distress among Italian People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors

Mazza

Ricci

Biondi

et al. 2020

1,690

312

1,619

The uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has called for unprecedented measures, to the extent that the Italian government has imposed a quarantine on the entire country. Quarantine has a huge impact and can cause considerable psychological strain. The present study aims to establish the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and identify risk and protective factors for psychological distress in the general population. An online survey was administered from 18-22 March 2020 to 2766 participants. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression models were constructed to examine the associations between sociodemographic variables; personality traits; depression, anxiety, and stress. Female gender, negative affect, and detachment were associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Having an acquaintance infected was associated with increased levels of both depression and stress, whereas a history of stressful situations and medical problems was associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Finally, those with a family member infected and young person who had to work outside their domicile presented higher levels of anxiety and stress, respectively. This epidemiological picture is an important benchmark for identifying persons at greater risk of suffering from psychological distress and the results are useful for tailoring psychological interventions targeting the post-traumatic nature of the distress.

“…People with misophonia while being exposed to certain auditory triggers experience strong, immediate, unwanted emotions and physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, sweating, and muscle tension. The dominant, but not exclusive, emotions related to misophonia are anger, disgust, extreme irritation, and anxiety [3,5,6]. In contrast to the less-discussed phonophobia [7], misophonia is not associated with experiencing fear of the sound while it is occurring [8,9], excluding it from classification as a phobia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the most aversive triggers are sounds made by human mouths or noses, such as chewing, breathing sounds, lip-smacking, crunching, or sniffing. Some researchers [6] noted that the sound of a baby crying orhigh-pitched voices can also trigger misophonic reactions; however, the study by Kumar et al [10] showed that these kinds of sounds evoke significantly different reactions on psychophysiological and neuropsychological levels than do sounds related to eating. They found that in people with misophonia, sounds of eating, breathing, or drinking (trigger sounds) are related to abnormal activation of the anterior insular cortex (AIC) and abnormal functional connectivity of this structure with brain areas responsible for emotion processing and regulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Psychometric Properties of MisoQuest—A New Self-Report Questionnaire for Misophonia

Siepsiak

Śliwerski

Dragan

2020

Background: Misophonia is a condition related to experiencing psychophysiological sensations when exposed to specific sound triggers. In spite of progress in research on the subject, a fully validated questionnaire assessing misophonia has not been published yet. The goal of this study was to create and validate a new questionnaire to measure misophonia. Methods: MisoQuest is based on the diagnostic criteria proposed by Schröder et al. in 2013, with minor changes implemented by the authors of MisoQuest. A total of 705 participants took part in the study, completing the online questionnaires. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and analyses using the Item Response Theory (IRT) were performed. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The reliability of the MisoQuest was excellent (α = 0.955). The stability at five weeks was strong. There was a significant difference in results between people classified as those with misophonia and those without misophonia. Conclusions: MisoQuest has good psychometric values and can be helpful in the identification of misophonia. A deeper analysis showed that certain triggers might be more specific for people with misophonia. Consideration of violent behavior in response to misophonic triggers as a symptom of misophonia was undermined.