The frequency of misophonia in bipolar patients and its relationship with autism spectrum traits and emotion regulation skills

Research on misophonia shows that it can co-occur with various psychiatric disorders. In our study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of misophonia in remitted bipolar disorder type-1 patients, its relationship with autism spectrum traits and emotion regulation skills, and compare it with a healthy control group. Additionally, the relationship between misophonia severity and scale scores, as well as the relationships between scales in the patient group, were evaluated. Our cross-sectional study included 105 patients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and 105 healthy controls who met the inclusion criteria. All participants completed a sociodemographic data form, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, the Revised Amsterdam Misophonia Scale, the Autism Spectrum Questionnaire, and the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS. The patient group included 52 males and 53 females, while the control group had 53 males and 52 females. The mean age of the patients was 39.20±12.65 years, and the mean age of the controls was 40.47±11.38 years. Misophonia was found to be less frequent in patients than in controls. Emotion regulation skills were more impaired in the patient group, whereas autism spectrum traits were similar between groups. Bipolar patients with misophonia had significantly lower emotion regulation skills and more pronounced autism spectrum traits compared to those without misophonia. A weak negative correlation was found between emotion regulation skills and autism spectrum traits in patients with misophonia. Regression analysis in the patient group showed that the increase in misophonia severity and impairment in emotion regulation skills significantly enhanced autism spectrum traits. It was also found that the severity of autistic features had a significant negative impact on emotion regulation skills, and both a history of suicide attempts and autism spectrum traits had a statistically significant effect on the severity of misophonia. The results indicate that while misophonia frequency is lower in bipolar patients compared to controls, those with misophonia exhibit more impaired emotion regulation skills and more pronounced autism spectrum traits. We believe that the findings of this study will contribute to the literature and highlight the clinical importance of considering misophonia in bipolar patients, especially in the context of treatment planning and maintaining functionality.