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Id a2e341a7-5fe9-4c45-9937-353fd4735902
Year 2026
Abstract Background and aims Misophonia is a sound intolerance disorder characterised by an excessive negative reaction to specific sounds. A key feature of misophonia is the strong emotional reactions an individual develops towards specific triggering sounds. These reactions typically manifest as sudden anger, irritation, anxiety, or intense discomfort. This study aims to determine the level of misophonia awareness among occupational therapy and audiology students and establish the relationship between misophonia symptom severity and perceived stress levels. The study also aims to determine the correlation between misophonia symptoms and awareness of the condition. Methods A total of 196 adult university students completed a demographic information form designed to assess their knowledge of misophonia, as well as the Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Analysis of the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) coefficients and descriptive statistics of the scales and their sub-dimensions revealed that the internal consistency coefficients of the MQ subscales (0.752–0.829) and the PSS Cronbach’s alpha value (0.709) were acceptable, indicating good internal consistency.
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Aliases
- (Aktan Yilmaz et al., 2026)
Import Date 09-16-2026
Initial Source
- Misophonia
Dv Authors Rahmiye Nur Aktan Yilmaz, Ali Karaağaç, Hilal Nur Saygili, Zeynep Daban, Emre Gürlek, Fadime Aybüke Kiliç, Başak Göksel Karaağaç,
Dv Status #status/Bare-bones-review
Dv Limitations • Sample restricted to young university students from occupational therapy and audiology departments, limiting generalizability to wider student population or general public.
Dv Future Directions • Research with broader age range, clinical samples, objective measurements, and multidisciplinary interactions to yield more comprehensive, generalizable results.
Dv Relevance • This study seemed to be aimed at surveying Misophonia awareness amongst occupational therapy and audiology students, to look at the relationship between Misophonia symptom severity and perceived stress, and determine any correlations between Misophonia symptoms and awareness of Misophonia. • The results bring the author to some pretty generic conclusions about the multidimensionality of misophonia, and they make some awkwardly phrased arguments suggesting that their findings that occupational therapy students had higher misophonia and received stress scores being related to heightened sensory sensitivity and stress levels or awareness. I'm not fully sure I understand the logic here. • I honestly feel like there might have been some translation issues, because there are a lot of parts of this paper that read weird to me. And the fact that awareness is so downplayed in the discussion, considering the title and aims, makes me feel like something must have been lost in translation.
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Notes Audited 2026-09-16T22:02:00
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An investigation into the relationship between misophonia awareness and perceived stress levels among occupational therapy and audiology students
Status:: #status/Bare-bones-review
Metadata
- Item Type: #journalArticle
- Authors:: Rahmiye Nur Aktan Yilmaz, Ali Karaağaç, Hilal Nur Saygili, Zeynep Daban, Emre Gürlek, Fadime Aybüke Kiliç, Başak Göksel Karaağaç,
- Date Added: July 8, 2026
- URL: https://link.springer.com/10.1186/s43163-026-01163-8
- DOI: 10.1186/s43163-026-01163-8
- Cite Key: aktanyilmazInvestigationRelationshipMisophonia2026
- Tags:: #Bare-bones-review-🦴, #Misophonia, #misophonia-awareness,
- PDF Attachments
Abstract
| Background/Purpose | Background- • Misophonia first defined by Jastreboff and Jastreboff within reduced sound tolerance disorder, distinct from hyperacusis and phonophobia. • Misophonic reactions relate to emotional interpretation of sensory stimuli, not solely auditory perception; associated with difficulties in interpersonal communication, avoidance of social settings, reduced quality of life. • Misophonia linked to physiological arousal and stress responses, suggesting a stress-related psychophysiological process rather than purely sensory sensitivity. • Significant associations reported between anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and misophonia symptoms. • Awareness of misophonia believed to remain limited in general population, particularly among health science students; audiology and occupational therapy students need to be informed given relevance to their professional practice. • Health science students may experience high stress from academic workload, clinical placements, and professional responsibility; research on misophonia awareness and stress in this group is limited. Purpose- • Measure misophonia awareness among occupational therapy and audiology students. • Determine relationship between misophonia symptom severity and perceived stress levels. • Identify correlation between misophonia symptoms and awareness. |
| Participants/samples | • N=196 university students aged 18–28 from occupational therapy and audiology departments at Istanbul Gelişim University. • 70.9% female; 51.0% occupational therapy, 49.0% audiology. • First-year students largest group (44.4%). • Voluntary participation with informed consent. • Power analysis (α=0.05, power=0.80, r=0.30) established minimum of 85 participants for correlation; 80–180 per group for between-department comparisons. |
| Measures | • Demographic Information Form: age, gender, year group, awareness items (heard of misophonia, awareness of it, family/social circle with symptoms); psychological support, medication use, stress status, sleep, caffeine consumption. • Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ), Turkish version: 4 sub-dimensions — sensitivity to trigger sounds; avoidance and emotional responses; anger and aggressive responses; perceived overall severity. First three subscales rated 0–4; fourth rated 1–15. • Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Turkish version: 10 items, 0–4 scale, total 0–40; interpreted as low (0–13), moderate (14–26), high (27–40) stress. |
| Procedures | • Face-to-face questionnaire administration during lesson breaks in autumn term 2025–26 academic year. • Completion time approximately 10–12 minutes. • Awareness responses used to classify students into "high awareness" and "low awareness" groups. |
| Results | • Internal consistency acceptable: MQ subscales Cronbach's α 0.752–0.829; PSS α 0.709. • Gender: MQ2 higher in females; no gender differences on MQ1, MQ3, or PSS. • Psychological treatment: those receiving treatment scored higher on MQ1, MQ2, and PSS; no difference on MQ3. • Medication use: only MQ3 differed, higher in medicated group; no differences on MQ1, MQ2, PSS. • Stress status (self-reported present vs. none): all four scales (MQ1, MQ2, MQ3, PSS) higher in the "stress present" group. • Department: occupational therapy scored higher than audiology on all four scales (MQ1, MQ2, MQ3, PSS). • Family history of misophonia: MQ1 and PSS differed by group; "don't know" group scored higher than "no" group on MQ1; both "don't know" and "yes" groups scored higher than "no" group on PSS; MQ2 group difference significant overall with no pairwise contrast reported; MQ3 no group difference. • Caffeine consumption: MQ1 and MQ3 differed; high caffeine group scored higher than low group on MQ1; high scored higher than moderate on MQ3; MQ2 and PSS not different across caffeine groups. • Correlations (occupational therapy): MQ1–MQ2 moderate positive; MQ1–MQ3 weak positive; MQ2–MQ3 moderate positive; MQ2–PSS very weak positive; MQ3–PSS weak positive; MQ1–PSS not significant. • Correlations (audiology): MQ1–MQ2, MQ1–MQ3, MQ2–MQ3 moderate positive; MQ2–PSS weak positive. • Correlations (whole sample): MQ1–MQ2 and MQ2–MQ3 moderate positive; MQ1–MQ3 weak positive; MQ1–PSS very weak positive; MQ2–PSS and MQ3–PSS weak positive. • Misophonia awareness/knowledge: no relationship between educational level and knowledge of misophonia was found, nor was there any significant difference in misophonia knowledge between the two departments. (pdf) |
| Discussion/Limits | Conclusion- • Misophonia appears to be a multidimensional, potentially stable condition established early in life, involving sensory processing, emotional regulation, stress responsivity, and adaptation rather than auditory sensitivity alone. • Emotional and behavioral responses may vary across individuals and demographic groups; higher MQ2 scores in women suggest possible sex-related differences in emotional responses to trigger sounds. • Stress may contribute to both the emergence and severity of misophonic reactions by reducing sensory tolerance and emotional regulation, while uncertainty about family history may point to additional psychosocial influences. • Factors such as caffeine and medication may affect specific symptom dimensions rather than misophonia globally, suggesting partially distinct emotional, physiological, cognitive, and avoidance-related components. • Greater misophonia and stress scores among occupational therapy students may reflect heightened sensory sensitivity, awareness, or stress, supporting standardized training and multidisciplinary management that treats misophonia from a sensory and holistic rather than purely auditory perspective. |
| Limitations:: | • Sample restricted to young university students from occupational therapy and audiology departments, limiting generalizability to wider student population or general public. |
| Future Directions:: | • Research with broader age range, clinical samples, objective measurements, and multidisciplinary interactions to yield more comprehensive, generalizable results. |
| Relevance:: | • This study seemed to be aimed at surveying Misophonia awareness amongst occupational therapy and audiology students, to look at the relationship between Misophonia symptom severity and perceived stress, and determine any correlations between Misophonia symptoms and awareness of Misophonia. • The results bring the author to some pretty generic conclusions about the multidimensionality of misophonia, and they make some awkwardly phrased arguments suggesting that their findings that occupational therapy students had higher misophonia and received stress scores being related to heightened sensory sensitivity and stress levels or awareness. I'm not fully sure I understand the logic here. • I honestly feel like there might have been some translation issues, because there are a lot of parts of this paper that read weird to me. And the fact that awareness is so downplayed in the discussion, considering the title and aims, makes me feel like something must have been lost in translation. |
Notes
key terms and concepts
Misophonia – sound intolerance disorder characterized by an excessive negative reaction to specific sounds; strong emotional reactions to specific triggering sounds manifesting as sudden anger, irritation, anxiety, or intense discomfort.
Misophonia awareness – whether individuals have heard of misophonia, are aware of it, and know of anyone in their family or social circle exhibiting symptoms; used to classify participants into "high awareness" and "low awareness" groups.
Perceived stress – individuals' perception of stress over the past month, measured by the Perceived Stress Scale.
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contextual statement
In a 2026 study, Aktan Yilmaz attempted to determine misophonia awareness and its relationship with symptom severity and perceived stress by administering a demographic form, the Misophonia Questionnaire, and the Perceived Stress Scale to 196 occupational therapy and audiology undergraduates aged 18–28 at Istanbul Gelişim University.
summary statement
Zettelkasten
Misophonia Symptom Severity Linked to Stress, Not Awareness, in Health Sciences Students