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In a 2022 study, Rinaldi et al. examined autistic traits in individuals with misophonia and found that adults with misophonia scored significantly higher than controls on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) overall and across all five subscales, with 21.4% exceeding the clinical cutoff compared to 2.8% of controls. In a population-screened child sample, children with misophonia also showed elevated autistic traits, along with greater negative emotional reactivity (but not positive reactivity) and increased sensory hyper-sensitivity across multiple sensory domains, with no differences in hypo-sensitivity. The authors concluded that autistic traits are elevated in misophonia across development, that misophonia and autism are distinct but non-trivially related conditions, and that these findings have implications for models linking autism, sensory sensitivities, and the specific features of misophonia. (Rinaldi et al., 2022)

Autistic Trait Elevations and Developmental Pattern

A 2022 study examining autistic traits in individuals with misophonia found that adults with misophonia scored significantly higher than controls on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) overall and across all five subscales, with 21.4% exceeding the clinical cutoff compared to 2.8% of controls. In a population-screened child sample, children with misophonia also showed elevated autistic traits, indicating that these differences are present across development. The authors concluded that misophonia and autism are distinct but non-trivially related conditions, with implications for models linking autism-related traits and misophonia. (Rinaldi et al., 2022)

Greater Negative Emotional Reactivity

The same study reported that children with misophonia showed greater negative emotional reactivity, while positive emotional reactivity did not differ from controls. These findings suggest that misophonia may be associated with heightened negative affective responsiveness, potentially contributing to the strong emotional reactions characteristic of trigger experiences. (Rinaldi et al., 2022)

Sensory Hyper-Sensitivity Across Modalities

Children with misophonia in the study also demonstrated increased sensory hyper-sensitivity across multiple sensory domains, indicating that heightened sensory responsiveness was not limited to the auditory modality. No differences were observed in sensory hypo-sensitivity. These findings suggest that multi-modal sensory sensitivity may be part of the broader sensory profile associated with misophonia. (Rinaldi et al., 2022)