The subtypes of sensory hypersensitivity and their cross-modal relationships: a platform for transdiagnostic understanding

Sensory hypersensitivity is common in the population and across many clinical conditions and areas of neurodivergence, yet its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. One challenge is the lack of coherent characterisation of the different types of hypersensitivity. Here, we developed a systematic framework across five senses, extending previous work on vision to hearing, touch, taste and smell. Using a large qualitative dataset and existing questionnaires, we generated and refined a comprehensive set of questions covering reported sensory triggers through several cohorts (N = 774, 335, 227). Bifactor analysis (N = 665) identified three subfactors of auditory hypersensitivity ( Loud/Multiple , Misophonia , Background ), four in touch sensitivity ( Human Touch , Food Texture , Clothing , Hands/Feet ), two for smell ( Fragrances, Natural Odours ), while taste was unimodal. We selected representative items to create the Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale (CHYPS) and a brief version (CHYPS-Mini) which showed good reliability, validity and confirmatory bifactors (Ns = 191, 118, 561). Cross-modality analysis revealed that, rather than factoring by sense, three novel factors of hypersensitivity emerge: Social Auditory (Human Touch and auditory subfactors), Body and Chemosensory (T aste , Food Texture , Natural Odours and Hands/Feet) , and Vision (visual subtypes only). This framework can guide new research into mechanisms and the associations of sensory hypersensitivity with other traits and symptoms, as well as personalised approaches to clinical management.