Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40965092›Full record

ArticleJournal of attention disorders2026

A Trans-Diagnostic Investigation of Attention and Diverse Phenotypes of "Auditory Hyperreactivity" in Autism, ADHD, and the General Population.

Patrick Dwyer, Zachary J Williams, Wenn Lawson, Susan M Rivera

Abstract read
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Article in Journal of attention disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Patrick DwyerLa Trobe University, VIC, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1779-5252
Zachary J WilliamsVanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7646-423X
Wenn LawsonCooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Susan M RiveraUC Davis, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4870-4774

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveExperiences of "auditory hyper-reactivity" and decreased sound tolerance, which can be separated into phenotypes such as hyperacusis and misophonia, are prevalent in autism and ADHD and impact quality of life and wellbeing. Furthermore, atypical patterns of attention regulations-including hyper-focus and inattention-are common in both autism and ADHD. Prior research also suggests sensory hyper-reactivity can cause anxiety, and anxiety can be associated with hyper-vigilance. It is currently unclear whether hyper-focusing on stimuli, having one's attention captured by them, or being hyper-vigilant toward them could lead to sensory hyper-reactivity. Therefore, this study investigates relationships among hyper-focus, inattention, hyper-vigilance, auditory hyper-reactivity, and anxiety.

methodFour hundred ninety-two adults (122 ADHD-only, 130 autistic-only, 141 autistic + ADHD, and 99 comparison) completed questionnaires indexing hyper-focus, inattention, and various forms of auditory hyper-reactivity; participants also completed a psychoacoustic measure by rating the pleasantness of misophonic trigger sounds.

resultPer questionnaires, auditory hyper-reactivity was markedly elevated in both autistic and ADHD participants relative to comparison participants (.46 ≤ Cliff's δ ≤ .84), whereas differences between autism and ADHD alone were small (.05 ≤ |Cliff's δ| ≤ .21) and not consistent in sensitivity analyses. Path analysis suggested hyper-vigilance, hyper-focus, and inattention were related to auditory hyper-reactivity, which was related to anxiety, which was related to hyper-vigilance, potentially reflecting a cyclic relationship. However, psychoacoustic misophonia was only modestly related to self-reported misophonia scores (.22

conclusionThese findings generally support the idea that attention may be connected to many neurodivergent people's auditory hyper-reactivity, but also emphasize the need for improved measurement of sensory experiences.

Indexed as

AttentionAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityAuditory PerceptionAutistic DisorderHyperacusisAdolescentAdultAnxietyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhenotypeSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung Adulthyperacusishyper-focusinattentionmisophoniamonotropism

Identifiers

PMID40965092
PMCPMC12686195

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.