Same but different? Phenomenological differences among various types of body-focused repetitive behaviors

TY - JOUR

T1 - Same but different? Phenomenological differences among various types of body-focused repetitive behaviors

AU - Moritz, Steffen

AU - Penney, Danielle

AU - Mißmann, Franziska

AU - Snorrason, Ivar

AU - Schmotz, Stella

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - BACKGROUND: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are highly prevalent conditions at the border of psychiatry and dermatology. Using a newly developed scale, the Generic BFRB scale (GBS-36), we aimed to compare 4 prominent BFRBs in terms of phenomenology, age at onset, and other illness-related aspects.METHODS: A sample of 391 individuals with different forms of BFRBs completed the GBS-36, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF global item (quality of life).RESULTS: Most individuals showed multiple BFRBs (73.9%). Skin picking and nail biting were reported most frequently (nail biting: 68.3%; skin picking: 60.9%; trichotillomania: 52.4%; lip-cheek biting: 31.7%). Nail biting was most common in childhood; the other BFRBs began mainly in adolescence. Both trichotillomania and skin picking were associated with the greatest impairment and urge to perform the behavior. The 2 conditions also showed a higher association with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Overall symptom severity was correlated with earlier age of onset, number of concurrent BFRBs, and severity of depression as well as suicidality.CONCLUSIONS: BFRBs are a heterogeneous group of conditions, with trichotillomania and skin picking showing the largest similarities. Whether the observed differences reflect specific etiological factors awaits further testing.

AB - BACKGROUND: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are highly prevalent conditions at the border of psychiatry and dermatology. Using a newly developed scale, the Generic BFRB scale (GBS-36), we aimed to compare 4 prominent BFRBs in terms of phenomenology, age at onset, and other illness-related aspects.METHODS: A sample of 391 individuals with different forms of BFRBs completed the GBS-36, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF global item (quality of life).RESULTS: Most individuals showed multiple BFRBs (73.9%). Skin picking and nail biting were reported most frequently (nail biting: 68.3%; skin picking: 60.9%; trichotillomania: 52.4%; lip-cheek biting: 31.7%). Nail biting was most common in childhood; the other BFRBs began mainly in adolescence. Both trichotillomania and skin picking were associated with the greatest impairment and urge to perform the behavior. The 2 conditions also showed a higher association with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Overall symptom severity was correlated with earlier age of onset, number of concurrent BFRBs, and severity of depression as well as suicidality.CONCLUSIONS: BFRBs are a heterogeneous group of conditions, with trichotillomania and skin picking showing the largest similarities. Whether the observed differences reflect specific etiological factors awaits further testing.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Humans

KW - Self-Injurious Behavior

KW - Quality of Life

KW - Trichotillomania/epidemiology

KW - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/epidemiology

KW - Compulsive Behavior

U2 - 10.12788/acp.0123

DO - 10.12788/acp.0123

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 37850994

VL - 35

SP - 252

EP - 259

JO - ANN CLIN PSYCHIATRY

JF - ANN CLIN PSYCHIATRY

SN - 1040-1237

IS - 4

ER -