Poorer Well-Being in Children With Misophonia: Evidence From the Sussex Misophonia Scale for Adolescents

Abstract

ObjectiveMisophonia is an unusually strong aversion to a specific class of sounds – most often human bodily sounds such as chewing, crunching, or breathing. A number of studies have emerged in the last 10 years examining misophonia in adults, but little is known about the impact of the condition in children. Here we set out to investigate the well-being profile of children with misophonia, while also presenting the first validated misophonia questionnaire for children.Materials and MethodsWe screened 142 children (10–14 years; Mean 11.72 SD 1.12; 65 female, 77 male) using our novel diagnostic [the Sussex Misophonia Scale for Adolescents (SMS-Adolescent)]. This allowed us to identify a group of children already manifesting misophonia at that age – the first population-sampled cohort of child misophonics examined to date. Children and their parents also completed measures of well-being (for convergent validation of our SMS-Adolescent) and creative self-construct (for discriminant validation).ResultsData show that children with misophonia have significantly elevated levels of anxiety and obsessive compulsive traits. Additionally children with misophonia have significantly poorer life-satisfaction, and health-related quality of life. As predicted, they show no differences in creative self-construct.ConclusionTogether our data suggest the first evidence in population sampling of poorer life outcomes for children with misophonia, and provide preliminary convergent and discriminant validation for our novel misophonia instrument. Our data suggest a need for greater recognition and therapeutic outlets for adolescents with misophonia.

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

“…Where sensitivities arise, they can present Operator Characteristics show it to be an "excellent" measure for identifying misophonia in adults (https://psyarxiv. com/5eb39/ see also Rinaldi, Ward, et al, 2022).…”

“…SMS-A: Sussex Misophonia Scale for Adolescents (Rinaldi et al, 2022). This child-completed questionnaire is almost identical to the adult measure described in Experiment 1, with only a single-word difference, substituting the word "work" for "school" in four items (Q12, Q14, Q22, Q31).…”

“…For example, Item 12 now read as: I don't do well at school because of distractions from sounds. This only very minor change was possible because the scale was originally carefully devised to be adaptable for both adults and children, and has been validated in adolescents with convergent validity against measures of life-satisfaction, quality of life, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive traits (Rinaldi et al, 2022).…”

Misophonia: A Systematic Review of Current and Future Trends in This Emerging Clinical Field

“…Misophonia causes an impact and deterioration in the patient’s quality of life, both in adults and in children and adolescents, according to [ 84 , 85 ]. Thus, in a recent study [ 84 ], the quality of life was also impoverished in a group of children with misophonia compared to those who did not suffer from this disorder, as well as contributing to the development of other problems such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The most common symptoms are anger, discomfort, disgust, anxiety, and avoidance and escape behaviors [ 6 ].…”

“…Depending on the needs, it can be applied in its entirety or only to the individual subscales [ 83 ]. (9) The first child/adolescent scale for misophonia Sussex Myofonia Scale for Adolescents SMS Adolescent [ 84 ].…”