Steven Taylor1, Christine A Conelea2, Dean McKay3, Katherine B Crowe3, Jonathan S Abramowitz4. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: taylor@mail.ubc.ca. 2. Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. 3. Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA. 4. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Sensory intolerance refers to high levels of distress evoked by everyday sounds (e.g., sounds of people chewing) or commonplace tactile sensations (e.g., sticky or greasy substances). Sensory intolerance may be associated with obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, OC-related phenomena, and other forms of psychopathology. Sensory intolerance is not included as a syndrome in current diagnostic systems, although preliminary research suggests that it might be a distinct syndrome. OBJECTIVES: First, to investigate the latent structure of sensory intolerance in adults; that is, to investigate whether it is syndrome-like in nature, in which auditory and tactile sensory intolerance co-occur and are associated with impaired functioning. Second, to investigate the psychopathologic correlates of sensory intolerance. In particular, to investigate whether sensory intolerance is associated with OC-related phenomena, as suggested by previous research. METHOD: A sample of 534 community-based participants were recruited via Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk program. Participants completed measures of sensory intolerance, OC-related phenomena, and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Latent class analysis revealed two classes of individuals: those who were intolerant of both auditory and tactile stimuli (n=150), and those who were relatively undisturbed by auditory or tactile stimuli (n=384). Sensory-intolerant individuals, compared to those who were comparatively sensory tolerant, had greater scores on indices of general psychopathology, more severe OC symptoms, a higher likelihood of meeting caseness criteria for OC disorder, elevated scores on measures of OC-related dysfunctional beliefs, a greater tendency to report OC-related phenomena (e.g., a greater frequency of tics), and more impairment on indices of social and occupational functioning. Sensory-intolerant individuals had significantly higher scores on OC symptoms even after controlling for general psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with recent research, these findings provide further evidence for a sensory intolerance syndrome. The findings provide a rationale for conducting future research for determining whether a sensory intolerance syndrome should be included in the diagnostic nomenclature.
BACKGROUND: Sensory intolerance refers to high levels of distress evoked by everyday sounds (e.g., sounds of people chewing) or commonplace tactile sensations (e.g., sticky or greasy substances). Sensory intolerance may be associated with obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, OC-related phenomena, and other forms of psychopathology. Sensory intolerance is not included as a syndrome in current diagnostic systems, although preliminary research suggests that it might be a distinct syndrome. OBJECTIVES: First, to investigate the latent structure of sensory intolerance in adults; that is, to investigate whether it is syndrome-like in nature, in which auditory and tactile sensory intolerance co-occur and are associated with impaired functioning. Second, to investigate the psychopathologic correlates of sensory intolerance. In particular, to investigate whether sensory intolerance is associated with OC-related phenomena, as suggested by previous research. METHOD: A sample of 534 community-based participants were recruited via Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk program. Participants completed measures of sensory intolerance, OC-related phenomena, and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Latent class analysis revealed two classes of individuals: those who were intolerant of both auditory and tactile stimuli (n=150), and those who were relatively undisturbed by auditory or tactile stimuli (n=384). Sensory-intolerant individuals, compared to those who were comparatively sensory tolerant, had greater scores on indices of general psychopathology, more severe OC symptoms, a higher likelihood of meeting caseness criteria for OC disorder, elevated scores on measures of OC-related dysfunctional beliefs, a greater tendency to report OC-related phenomena (e.g., a greater frequency of tics), and more impairment on indices of social and occupational functioning. Sensory-intolerant individuals had significantly higher scores on OC symptoms even after controlling for general psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with recent research, these findings provide further evidence for a sensory intolerance syndrome. The findings provide a rationale for conducting future research for determining whether a sensory intolerance syndrome should be included in the diagnostic nomenclature.
Authors: Ygor Arzeno Ferrão; Roseli Gedanke Shavitt; Helena Prado; Leonardo F Fontenelle; Dante Marino Malavazzi; Maria Alice de Mathis; Ana Gabriela Hounie; Eurípedes Constantino Miguel; Maria Conceição do Rosário Journal: Psychiatry Res Date: 2012-02-22 Impact factor: 3.222
Authors: Christine A Conelea; Douglas W Woods; Samuel H Zinner; Cathy L Budman; Tanya K Murphy; Lawrence D Scahill; Scott N Compton; John T Walkup Journal: Community Ment Health J Date: 2011-11-04
Authors: Steven Taylor; Dean McKay; Katherine B Crowe; Jonathan S Abramowitz; Christine A Conelea; John E Calamari; Claudio Sica Journal: Behav Ther Date: 2013-12-11
Authors: Carrie Cuttler; Valérie Sirois-Delisle; Gillian M Alcolado; Adam S Radomsky; Steven Taylor Journal: J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry Date: 2013-02-04
Authors: Edna B Foa; Jonathan D Huppert; Susanne Leiberg; Robert Langner; Rafael Kichic; Greg Hajcak; Paul M Salkovskis Journal: Psychol Assess Date: 2002-12
Authors: Perrine Créquit; Ghizlène Mansouri; Mehdi Benchoufi; Alexandre Vivot; Philippe Ravaud Journal: J Med Internet Res Date: 2018-05-15 Impact factor: 5.428