An Inter-Disciplinary Study Characterizing Misophonia Across Nations and Across the Lifespan

ABOUT THE PROJECT

 “An Inter-Disciplinary Study Characterizing Misophonia Across Nations and Across the Lifespan”, led by Drs. Howard Berenbaum and Fatima Husain at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and funded by the Misophonia Research Fund, is a research project applying an inter-disciplinary approach to explore similarities and differences in misophonia across countries (in three different continents) and across the lifespan. Building on a collaboration between psychology/psychiatry and audiology, this project will focus on the following two specific objectives:

            #1: Cross-National comparison of the symptoms of misophonia and what they are associated with across cultures

            #2: Comparison of the symptoms of misophonia and what they are associated with across the lifespan

Administered across the USA, Brazil, and South Korea and across the lifespan, we aim to uncover aspects of misophonia that may either be universal or culturally-specific by comparing:

The types of sounds that trigger misophonia
Emotions that precede and follow trigger sounds
Physical and behavioral responses to trigger sounds
Distress, avoidance, and impairment associated with misophonia
Audiological functioning, including hearing loss and other hearing issues such as tinnitus
Difficulties with tolerating sounds that are not misophonia (hyperacusis, noise sensitivity, and phonophobia)
Mood, anxiety, and related disorders
Visual and sensory sensitivities

With this information we hope to better our understanding of misophonia in the short-term and inform novel multi-disciplinary treatments for misophonia in the long-term.

If you are between the ages of 18 – 70 years old and have misophonia, this study may be for you.

Participation includes:

A virtual interview about misophonia and some psychological problems that people sometimes have
An in-person audiological (hearing) assessment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Each section of the study will take about 2 hours, and participants will receive $100 for completing both sections

Below is the link to see if you might be eligible to participate.