Clinical Characteristics, Impairment, and Psychiatric Morbidity in 102 Youth With Misophonia

Authors

Andrew G Guzick
Matti Cervin
Eleanor E A Smith
Jane Clinger
Isabel Draper
Wayne K Goodman
Marijn Lijffijt
Nicholas Murphy
Adam B Lewin
Sophie C Schneider
Eric A Storch

Publication Date

3-1-2023

Journal

Journal of Affective Disorders

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.083

PMID

36584703

PMCID

PMC9878468

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-1-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Adolescent, Child, Quality of Life, Hearing Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Morbidity, Syndrome, Sensory sensitivity, Children, Adolescents, Phenomenology, Treatment, Comorbidity, Assessment

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is little information on the clinical presentation, functional impact, and psychiatric characteristics of misophonia in youth, an increasingly recognized syndrome characterized by high emotional reactivity to certain sounds and associated visual stimuli.

METHOD: One-hundred-two youth (8-17 years-old) with misophonia and their parents were recruited and compared with 94 youth with anxiety disorders. Participants completed validated assessments of misophonia severity, quality of life, as well as psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses.

RESULTS: The most common misophonia triggers included eating (96 %), breathing (84 %), throat sounds (66 %), and tapping (54 %). Annoyance/irritation, verbal aggression, avoidance behavior, and family impact were nearly universal. Misophonia severity was associated with internalizing symptoms, child-reported externalizing behaviors, and poorer quality of life. High rates of comorbidity with internalizing and neurodevelopmental disorders were found. Quality of life and externalizing behaviors were not significantly different between misophonia and anxiety samples; internalizing symptoms and autism characteristics were significantly higher among youth with anxiety disorders.

LIMITATIONS: This self-selected sample was characterized by limited multicultural diversity.

CONCLUSIONS: This study presents misophonia as a highly impairing psychiatric syndrome. Future interdisciplinary work should clarify the mechanisms of misophonia, establish evidence-based treatments, and extend these findings to randomly sampled and more culturally diverse populations.