Digital Intervention for Adults With Misophonia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Acceptance and commitment therapy.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Misophonia. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Efficacy and Feasibility of an Online Acceptance Based Intervention for Misophonia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Overview
The goal of this clinical trial is to test an online intervention for adults with misophonia. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Is the online intervention effective, compared to a waitlist control condition? 2. Is the online intervention acceptable to use? Participants will be randomized into either the online intervention or waitlist control condition: 1. Participants in the intervention condition will be asked to complete an 8 module acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) program for misophonia and 5 surveys over 4 months. 2. Participants in the waitlist condition will be asked to complete 5 surveys over 4 months, and will receive access to the intervention once the study is complete.
Detailed description
Misophonia, characterized by intense emotional reactions to specific sounds, significantly impacts daily functioning and quality of life. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has shown promise in addressing misophonia symptoms by fostering psychological flexibility. While recent intervention studies demonstrate the efficacy of ACT for misophonia, accessible and scalable treatment options remain scarce. This study aims to address this gap by developing and evaluating a fully automated, online ACT-based digital mental health intervention for misophonia. We will compare the intervention to a delayed treatment group in a sample of 100 adults meeting clinical criteria for misophonia. Outcomes will include misophonia symptoms, quality of life, general distress, and psychological flexibility, assessed at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and one- and two-month follow-up. Multilevel modeling will test time by condition interactions to examine the efficacy and feasibility of an online ACT-based intervention. This fully automated online intervention aims to provide accessible, evidence-based treatment for individuals with misophonia, laying groundwork for future, larger-scale studies and public dissemination.
Interventions
- Behavioral Acceptance and commitment therapy
Participants will complete the 8-module fully automated digital intervention based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The digital program is based off of an ACT protocol developed in a prior randomized controlled trial and adapted for digital self-help use (Bowers et al., 2024). Modules focus on focus on acceptance, cognitive defusion, present moment awareness, values clarification, and functional adaptations.
Primary outcome measures
- Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome Scale (S-Five; Vitoratou et al., 2021) [Time frame: 16 weeks]
Secondary outcome measures (4)
- Misophonia acceptance and action questionnaire (Miso-AAQ; Capel et al., 2025) [Time frame: 16 weeks]
- Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy processes (CompACT; Francis et al., 2016) [Time frame: 16 weeks]
- Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) [Time frame: 16 weeks]
- Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2005) [Time frame: 16 weeks]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Currently meet clinical impairment for misophonia.
- At least 18 years old.
- Fluent English speakers.
- Currently live or reside in the United States
Exclusion criteria
- Currently receiving alternative psychotherapy for misophonia.
- Currently modifying or starting psychotropic medication (within 30 days of starting the study).
- Any psychological and/or neurological impairments that would preclude someone from participating in the study (e.g.,active self-harm or psychosis)
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- Utah State University — Logan
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07220941 · 15239