Effectiveness of an innovative treatment protocol for misophonia in children and adolescents: Design of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Misophonia is a recently identified disorder in which individuals experience intense, uncontrollable and disproportional irritation, anger or disgust when confronted with specific sounds or stimuli associated with these sounds. Prevalence rates in children and adolescents are currently still to be investigated. The reported average age of onset is around 13 years, in clinical practice children from 8 years old are referred. Misophonia is associated with avoidance and anticipation anxiety, possibly leading to serious educational and social consequences for children and families. Worldwide, no evidence-based treatment exists specifically for children and adolescents with misophonia. This article presents the design of a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) combined with psychomotor therapy (PMT) for misophonia in children and adolescents (aged 8–18). METHODS: In total, 82 patients will be randomly assigned to a treatment condition or waiting list condition of 3 months (WCG). Treatment consists of 7 weekly group therapy sessions (1.5 h CBT plus 1.5 h PMT) and a follow-up after 3 weeks. Pre and post treatment assessments will be conducted during a baseline assessment, after 3 and 6 months. The primary outcome will be assessed by the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale – Youth (AMISOS-Y) and secondary outcomes (e.g. quality of life) and putative predictors (e.g. parenting burden) will be studied. CONCLUSION: This trial is the first study worldwide testing the effectiveness of a combined CBT plus PMT protocol for misophonia in children and adolescents. If proven effective, this protocol provides an innovation to improve care for youth with misophonia.