Could you sit still? Misokinesia, study preference and comorbidity with misophonia

Misokinesia, translating to ‘hatred of movements’, is a condition that presents as a strong aversive reaction towards repetitive visual movements that are typically produced by others. Once considered a symptom of misophonia, research is beginning to indicate it may be its own discrete disorder. Misokinesia and misophonia commonly present with strong avoidance behaviours. This study examined whether rates and severity of misokinesia varied between the preferred form of study for university students, whether that was online, on-campus or a blend. It also examined the comorbidity of misokinesia with misophonia. We measured misophonia and misokinesia scores by presenting both a misophonia and adapted misokinesia questionnaire using an online survey. In our study of 185 participants, we found that 10.2% of participants met the passing thresholds of misokinesia. There were no differences in misokinesia rates or scores between study preferences. All participants above the passing threshold for misokinesia were also above the passing threshold for misophonia. Our findings suggest that misokinesia is not a primary concern for students deciding their preferred form of study. Education providers may still benefit from this information in developing interventions and support systems to assist those with misokinesia. Additionally, misophonia scores were much higher than misokinesia scores. This could indicate limitations due to a lack of a specifically designed misokinesia scale. This made it difficult to determine if misokinesia is a discrete disorder or if it is a symptom of misophonia.