Examining emotional functioning in misophonia: The role of affective instability and difficulties with emotion regulation

Rachel E Guetta; Clair Cassiello-Robbins; Jacqueline Trumbull; Deepika Anand; M Zachary Rosenthal

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263230

Examining emotional functioning in misophonia: The role of affective instability and difficulties with emotion regulation

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 11;17(2):e0263230. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263230. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Rachel E Guetta^{1

2}, Clair Cassiello-Robbins¹, Jacqueline Trumbull^{1

2}, Deepika Anand¹, M Zachary Rosenthal^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America.
² Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America.

Abstract

Misophonia is a newly described condition characterized by sensory and emotional reactivity (e.g., anxiety, anger, disgust) to repetitive, pattern-based sounds (e.g., throat clearing, chewing, slurping). Individuals with misophonia report significant functional impairment and interpersonal distress. Growing research indicates ineffective coping and emotional functioning broadly (e.g., affective lability, difficulties with emotion regulation) are central to the clinical presentation and severity of misophonia. Preliminary evidence suggests an association between negative emotionality and deficits in emotion regulation in misophonia. Still, little is known about (a) the relationships among specific components of emotional functioning (e.g., emotion regulation, affective lability) with misophonia, and (b) which component(s) of misophonia (e.g., noise frequency, emotional and behavioral responses, impairment) are associated with emotional functioning. Further, despite evidence that mood and anxiety disorders co-occur with misophonia, investigation thus far has not controlled for depression and anxiety symptoms. Examination of these relationships will help inform treatment development for misophonia. The present study begins to disambiguate the relationships among affective lability, difficulties with emotion regulation, and components of misophonia. A sample of 297 participants completed questionnaires assessing misophonia, emotional functioning, depression, anxiety, and COVID-19 impact. Findings indicated that misophonia severity was positively associated with each of these constructs with small to medium effect sizes. When controlling for depression, anxiety, and COVID-19 impact, results from this preliminary study suggest that (a) difficulties with emotion regulation may be correlated with misophonia severity, and (b) misophonic responses, not number of triggers or perceived severity, are associated with difficulties with emotion regulation. Overall, these findings begin to suggest that emotion regulation is important to our understanding the risk factors and treatment targets for misophonia.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety / psychology
Depression / psychology
Emotional Regulation / physiology*
Female
Humans
Linear Models
Male
Mental Health
Phobic Disorders / psychology*
Surveys and Questionnaires

Supplementary concepts

misophonia

Grants and funding

MZR received funding from anonymous donors to support this work. The identities of the donors are not relevant to editors or reviewers’ assessment of the validity of the work. The donors do not have any competing interests in relation to this work. No research costs or authors’ salaries were funded, in whole or in part, by a tobacco company. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.