Properties (13)
Id e97192d5-2a06-4871-b04d-0d13af030620
Year 2022
Cssclasses
- purpleRed
Aliases
- (Dibb & Golding, 2022)
Import Date 03-20-2026
Dv Authors Bridget Dibb, Sarah E. Golding,
Dv Initial Source Misophonia MOC
Dv Status #status/Bare-bones-review
Dv Limitations • Online recruitment via Misophonia Institute and social media limits generalizability. • Self-report of misophonia without formal diagnosis; single-item classification question. • Did not analyze comorbid conditions in detail or collect psychiatric history. • Data collected during COVID-19 pandemic may have affected exposure to triggers and quality of life. • Sample predominantly female; high attrition rate at follow-up (typical for longitudinal research). • Follow-up period only 6 months; longer follow-up needed.
Dv Future Directions • Recruit clinical samples and individuals not associated with social media or misophonia organizations. • Explore impact of work environment on work satisfaction for people with misophonia. • Investigate social functioning impact given role of others as trigger sources. • Conduct longer-term longitudinal research to understand progression and change in misophonia over time. • Investigate potential for treating depression as part of misophonia treatment.
Dv Relevance • longitudinal study looking ath the role of anger, disgust, and anxiety in the Misophonia experience, finding stronger associations with anger and disgust rather then anxiety • also assessed quality of life in Misophonia , finding lower QOL then the general populations ( comparable to that of tinnitus) • a good source for the stability of Misophonia symptoms over time
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A longitudinal investigation of quality of life and negative emotions in misophonia
Status:: #status/Bare-bones-review
Metadata
- Item Type: #journalArticle
- Authors:: Bridget Dibb, Sarah E. Golding,
- Date Added: March 20, 2026
- URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.900474/full
- DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.900474
- Cite Key: dibbLongitudinalInvestigationQuality2022
- Tags:: #Misophonia, #anxiety, #anger, #quality-of-life, #depression, #disgust, #response-scale,
- PDF Attachments
Abstract
| Background/Purpose | Background- • Misophonia is an understudied, unclassified condition with ongoing debate regarding diagnostic criteria and definitions. • Research shows conflicting evidence regarding which negative emotions (anger, disgust, anxiety) are most important in misophonia. • Few studies have assessed quality of life impact using validated scales that allow comparison to other conditions. • Lack of clarity about whether misophonia differs from general population responses to annoying sounds. Purpose- • Overall goal: examine the role of anger, disgust, and anxiety in misophonia experience; compare quality of life between those with/without self-reported misophonia; assess the association of misophonia and quality of life over time. • Experiment-specific goals: use longitudinal design with two samples (self-reported misophonia vs. general population) to clarify emotional factors, quality of life differences, and predictive relationships over 6 months. • |
| Participants/samples | • N=994 at baseline (misophonia n=491; general population n=503; 77.3% female; age 18–91, M=47.23, SD=14.54; 90.9% White). N=222 at follow-up (misophonia n=127; general population n=95; 6-month follow-up rate 22.33%). • Inclusion: age 18+. Groups defined by self-reported response to single question about having misophonia (yes vs. no). |
| Measures | • MRS (emotional, physiological, participation subscales plus frequency, avoidance, recovery items) • SF-36 (eight quality of life domains: physical functioning, role limitations physical/emotional, energy/fatigue, emotional wellbeing, social functioning, pain, general health) • Brief Anger and Aggression Questionnaire (6 items) • Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised (6-item Propensity subscale) • State Trait Anxiety Inventory (6 items) • CES-D-10 (depression, 10 items) • Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (10 items). |
| Procedures | • Online survey at baseline and follow-up (6 months apart), July 2020–May 2021. • Recruited via Misophonia Institute (US) email/social media and snowball sampling via social media for general population. • Baseline: demographics, comorbid conditions, workplace characteristics, then quality of life, psychosocial measures, MRS. Follow-up: same measures plus country of residence. • |
| Results | Triggers: • 99.8% of misophonia group reported sound triggers; 62.9% sights; 26.7% touch; 24.7% smells; small percentages taste/other stimuli. • At follow-up, common auditory triggers: eating-related mouth sounds (89.8%), nose sounds (82.7%), non-eating mouth sounds (79.5%), hands/feet sounds (66.9%). • Common visual trigger: mouth-related movement (65.4%). • Trigger sources: most commonly "anyone" (70.1%), romantic partners (62.2%), strangers (61.4%), parents (59.8%). Between-group differences at baseline: • All MRS scores significantly greater in misophonia group vs. general population (all p<0.001, large effect sizes d=1.18–2.95). • Anger, disgust, anxiety, depression all significantly greater in misophonia group; self-esteem significantly lower (all p<0.001, large effect sizes). • Quality of life lower across all SF-36 domains for misophonia group (physical functioning p=0.004, all others p<0.001); largest effects for role limitations emotional, energy/fatigue, emotional wellbeing, social functioning (medium-to-large effect sizes). Between-group differences at follow-up: • Same pattern: all MRS scores greater in misophonia group (all p<0.001, large effect sizes d=1.03–2.41). • Anger, disgust, anxiety, depression greater; self-esteem lower in misophonia group (anger, disgust, depression large d; anxiety, self-esteem medium d). • Quality of life lower in misophonia group for role limitations emotional, energy/fatigue, emotional wellbeing, social functioning (all p<0.001, medium effect sizes). Within-group changes over time (misophonia group): • Frequency of triggers decreased (p=0.006, d=0.25); emotional response decreased (p<0.001, d=0.35); severity and weighted MRS scores decreased (p=0.001, d=0.30–0.31). • No significant changes in recovery, avoidance, physiological response, participation. • Self-esteem increased (p=0.013, d=0.22). • No significant changes in anger, disgust, anxiety, depression, or quality of life over time. Predictors of misophonic response (misophonia group): • Cross-sectionally: anger, disgust associated with multiple MRS subscales; anxiety only significant for some aspects; depression significant for some aspects. • Longitudinally: anger predicted longer recovery time and stronger physiological response at follow-up; disgust predicted stronger emotional response and greater impact on participation at follow-up; anger and disgust both predicted severity and weighted MRS scores at follow-up. • Anxiety and depression did not predict any misophonic response variables longitudinally. Predictors of quality of life (misophonia group): • Cross-sectionally: misophonia variables predicted all quality of life domains, but many effects disappeared when psychosocial variables added; depression strongest predictor across all domains. • Longitudinally: misophonia predicted only two quality of life domains: (1) role limitations emotional (predicted by less avoidance, greater emotional response, greater participation impact); (2) pain (predicted by greater participation impact). • Depression remained strong predictor of quality of life longitudinally for five domains. |
| Discussion/Limits | Conclusion- • The authors conclude that anger and disgust are the primary emotions associated with misophonia, not anxiety. • The findings indicate that quality of life is significantly lower for people with self-reported misophonia compared to the general population. • The data support that misophonia is similar to tinnitus in quality of life impact but better than OCD, and worse than general population and long-term physical conditions on specific domains. • The authors conclude that avoidance, emotional response, and perceived impact on participation predict role limitations due to emotional problems over time. • The findings indicate that perceived impact on participation predicts pain over time. • The authors conclude that depression is a strong predictor of quality of life over time across multiple domains. |
| Limitations:: | • Online recruitment via Misophonia Institute and social media limits generalizability. • Self-report of misophonia without formal diagnosis; single-item classification question. • Did not analyze comorbid conditions in detail or collect psychiatric history. • Data collected during COVID-19 pandemic may have affected exposure to triggers and quality of life. • Sample predominantly female; high attrition rate at follow-up (typical for longitudinal research). • Follow-up period only 6 months; longer follow-up needed. |
| Future Directions:: | • Recruit clinical samples and individuals not associated with social media or misophonia organizations. • Explore impact of work environment on work satisfaction for people with misophonia. • Investigate social functioning impact given role of others as trigger sources. • Conduct longer-term longitudinal research to understand progression and change in misophonia over time. • Investigate potential for treating depression as part of misophonia treatment. |
| Relevance:: | • longitudinal study looking ath the role of anger, disgust, and anxiety in the Misophonia experience, finding stronger associations with anger and disgust rather then anxiety • also assessed quality of life in Misophonia , finding lower QOL then the general populations ( comparable to that of tinnitus) • a good source for the stability of Misophonia symptoms over time |
Notes
key terms and concepts
- misophonia – aversion to everyday sensory stimuli associated with extreme emotional and/or physiological reactions to specific trigger stimuli (usually auditory).
- trigger stimulus – the auditory, visual, or other sensory event that elicits the misophonic response; most commonly "mouth-oriented" sounds like chewing or lip smacking.
- misophonic response – the individual's reaction (emotional, physiological, behavioral) to the trigger stimulus, varying in type, intensity, and duration across individuals.
- Misophonia Response Scale (MRS) – 22-item measure with three subscales (emotional response, physiological response, perceived participation in life) plus three standalone items (frequency, avoidance, recovery time).
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- results contradicts Jager 2020's claim that disgust is not a associated with misophonia (page 21
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reading notes
Dibb and Golding 2022 summary
In a 2022 study, Dibb and Golding attempted to clarify which negative emotions (anger, disgust, or anxiety) are most strongly associated with misophonia and to assess quality of life in people with self-reported misophonia compared to those without, by conducting a 6-month longitudinal online survey with 994 participants at baseline (491 with self-reported misophonia, 503 general population) measuring misophonic responses, anger, disgust, anxiety, depression, and quality of life at two time points. They found that anger and disgust (but not anxiety) predicted misophonic responses over time, that quality of life was significantly lower in the misophonia group across multiple domains (especially role limitations due to emotional problems, energy/fatigue, emotional wellbeing, and social functioning), and that the emotional response to triggers and perceived impact on participation in life predicted worse quality of life longitudinally. From this they concluded that anger and disgust are the primary emotions in misophonia rather than anxiety, that misophonia significantly impacts quality of life in ways comparable to tinnitus and worse than long-term physical conditions, and that treatment should address depression along with the emotional responses and perceived participation limitations that drive reduced quality of life over time. (Dibb & Golding, 2022)
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Dibb and Golding 2022 contradict Jager 2022 Disgust findings
Dibb and Golding 2022 findings on Quality of life in Misophonia