A Comparison of Misophonia and Autistic Traits in Parents of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study aims to compare misophonia levels and autistic traits between parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and parents of typically developing children.

Parents of children diagnosed with ASD who presented to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic (n=56) and parents of typically developing children (n=56) were included in the study. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was administered to the children with ASD. All participating parents completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale– Revised (AMISOS-R).

The rate of reporting throat sounds as a misophonic trigger was higher among parents of children with ASD (p=0.004). Weak but significant positive correlations were found across all participants between the AMISOS-R total score and the AQ total score, the attention switching subscale score, and the communication subscale score (r=0.275, p=0.003; r=0.266, p=0.005; r=0.35, p<0.001, respectively). Among parents of children with ASD, the AMISOS-R total score was positively correlated with items 3, 5, and 9 of the CARS (p<0.05).

Our findings support potential associations between misophonia and ASD, and suggest that misophonia in parents may be related to certain characteristics in the child, such as sensory processing and emotional regulation.