Misophonia Measurement Mess!

At the most rudimentary level a diagnostic test should have validity (i.e. it should test what it purports to test) and reliability (i.e. it should produce consistent and stable results over time). Yet, developing a test in order to diagnose any new disorder is paradoxical. One needs tests in order to diagnose, yet one needs to know what they are diagnosing in order to develop a test! In the past, test development and research have moved together somewhat reciprocally. Scales were updated along with new research findings and with new conceptualizations of disorders.However, in the age of the Internet and in the case of newly termed disorders, the cart is most definitely moving before the horse.

Misophonia has fallen victim to this phenomenon, and misophonia scales of all kinds can be found with a push of a few buttons. Tests devised by misophonia sufferers, advocates, researchers and clinicians are muddled on the Internet........Click Psychology Today for rest of article!