Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications
Publication Date
10-1-2023
Journal
Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
DOI
10.1016/j.jocrd.2023.100831
PMID
37692107
PMCID
PMC10485913
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
10-1-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Misophonia, Youth, Internalizing symptoms, Externalizing symptoms, Sensory sensitivity, Cognitive emotion regulation
Abstract
Misophonia is an often chronic condition characterized by strong, unpleasant emotional reactions when exposed to specific auditory or visual triggers. While not currently defined within existing classification systems, and not clearly fitting within the framework of extant psychiatric conditions, misophonia has historically been studied most frequently within the context of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Internalizing and externalizing psychiatric symptoms are common in misophonia, but specific factors that confer risk for these symptoms remain unknown. The present cross-sectional study examined whether sensory sensitivity and cognitive emotion regulation facets are associated with co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms in 102 youth with misophonia aged 8-17 years (Nfemales = 69). Participants completed self-report assessments of misophonia severity, sensory sensitivity, cognitive emotion regulation, and emotional-behavioral functioning. In the final model, controlling for all variables, multiple linear regression analyses revealed that sensory sensitivity and age were significant predictors of internalizing symptoms, while sensory sensitivity and the other-blame cognitive emotion regulation facet were significant predictors of externalizing symptoms. Further, findings demonstrated that the positive reappraisal cognitive emotion regulation facet moderated the effect of misophonia severity on internalizing symptoms. Results highlight a strong, consistent relation between sensory sensitivities (beyond sound sensitivity) and psychiatric symptoms in misophonic youth. Further research is necessary to determine mechanisms and clinical variables impacting internalizing and externalizing symptoms within youth with misophonia.