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To better understand how adults with misophonia experience trigger sounds in everyday life, Dr. Zachary Rosenthal’s team at the Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation at Duke University used ecological momentary assessment (EMA), a method that collects real-time reports throughout the day. Overall, researchers found that most emotional responses to trigger sounds decreased substantially within one hour, although the intensity of reactions and recovery patterns varied considerably across individuals.

More specifically, researchers found the following from survey data collected from 40 adults over a 10-day period:

• Trigger sounds were associated with significant increases in negative emotions compared to periods without trigger sounds.
• Irritability and anger showed the largest increases following trigger sounds.
• Most emotional responses decreased substantially within one hour of a trigger sound.
• The intensity of emotional responses and recovery patterns varied considerably across individuals.
• Greater emotional reactivity was associated with more severe misophonia symptoms, higher baseline levels of negative emotions, and co-occurring mental health conditions.

This is the first study to characterize real-time emotional experiences in adults with misophonia outside of laboratory settings. These findings provide new insights into how emotional responses unfold in daily life and highlight important differences in how individuals experience and recover from trigger sounds.

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Research Paper Title: Real-time emotional responses to trigger sounds in misophonia: An ecological momentary assessment study.

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Authors: Yanyan Shan, Bill Chen, Ashely A. Moskovich, Marta Siepsiak, Siyuan Wang, M. Zachary Rosenthal

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH TEAM

Zachary Rosenthal, PhD is on the MRF Scientific Advisory Board and is the Director of the Duke University Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation (CMER).  CMER is the first center of excellence for misophonia research, contributing a wide range of research discoveries that are helping to shape best practices around diagnosis and treatment of misophonia.