Body

Misophonia severity, driven by emotional-behavioral responses, linked to slower processing and worse cognitive control during trigger sounds, likely reflecting trait anxiety.

In a 2020 study, Daniels et al. examined whether misophonia severity predicts reduced cognitive control (Stroop task) and increased anxiety during trigger exposure in a non-clinical sample. Emotional reactions to trigger sounds were positively associated with larger Stroop effects under misophonia sounds (r = .25, p = .03), and this remained significant after controlling for neuroticism and baseline anxiety. This association was not present in the universally unpleasant control condition, and sound sensitivity alone was not related to the Stroop effect in either condition. Both sound sensitivity and emotional behaviors were linked to slower overall reaction times in the trigger condition only. A significant overall Stroop effect was observed (109 ms, p < .001), with marginally slower RTs under misophonia sounds (p = .053) but no difference in Stroop interference across sound conditions (p = .33). Emotional behaviors, but not sound sensitivity, were associated with higher baseline anxiety (r = .25, p = .03), and both MQ subscales predicted higher state anxiety under both sound conditions. The authors concluded that misophonia severity, particularly emotional-behavioral responses, is associated with slower processing during trigger exposure and may reflect higher trait anxiety (Daniels et al., 2020).