ArticleBMC psychiatry2021
Personality traits and their clinical associations in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Compulsive exercise in adults with trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Article
- Exploring the lived experiences of individuals with trichotillomania: a descriptive phenomenological study.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Early maladaptive schemas in trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder: their relationships with symptom severity and subtypes.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Developing and Evaluating a Situated Assessment Instrument for Trichotillomania: The SAMAssessment · 2025Article
- Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 1,234 individuals diagnosed with trichotillomania in the Swedish National Patient Register.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring skin picking disorder: aetiology, treatment, and future directions.Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2024Review
- Untroubled Pullers: An Examination of Nonclinical Hair-Pulling.Journal of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders · 2023Article
- Parental Bonding in Trichotillomania and Skin Picking Disorder.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDespite being discussed in the psychiatric literature for decades, very little is known about personality features associated with trichotillomania and skin picking disorder (known as body focused repetitive behavior disorders, BFRBs); and the contribution of personality traits to their clinical presentations.
aimThe present study assessed personality traits in a large and well-characterized sample of adults with either trichotillomania or skin picking disorder or both.
methodsAdults (n = 98, aged 18-65 years), with trichotillomania (n = 37), skin picking disorder (n = 32), both trichotillomania and skin picking disorder (n = 10), and controls (n = 19) were enrolled. Participants completed self-report questionnaires to quantify personality (NEO Personality Inventory), as well as extent/severity of picking/pulling symptoms, mood and anxiety, impulsive and perfectionistic tendencies, and neurocognitive functioning. Group differences were characterized and correlations with other measures were examined.
resultsIn comparison to controls, BFRBs had elevated neuroticism scores (p < 0.001), lower extraversion scores (p = 0.023), and lower conscientiousness scores (p = 0.007). Neuroticism was significantly related to both hair pulling (r = 0.24, p < 0.001) and skin picking severity (r = 0.48, p < 0.001), as well as elevated perceived stress, worse anxiety and depressive symptoms, and poorer quality of life. Introversion (i.e. lower extraversion) was significantly associated with worse picking severity, higher perceived stress, and higher depression. Lack of conscientiousness was significantly associated with more depression, impulsivity, and perceived stress. DISCUSSION: Personality traits of neuroticism, introversion, and lack of conscientiousness are heightened in individuals with BFRBs and show strong associations with a number of clinically relevant features of illness. The holistic understanding and treatment of these disorders is likely to require consideration of dimensional traits such as these.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.