JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Age of onset of trichotillomania symptoms: investigating clinical correlates.

Pathological hair-pulling with onset in very early childhood is thought to represent a different disorder from that with later onset. We examined whether there are differences between adult hair-pullers with very early onset (VEO, i.e., <6 years), early onset (EO, i.e., 6 years to <18 years), and late onset (LO, i.e., ≥18 years) trichotillomania symptomatology. Participants with VEO (n = 76; 5%), EO (n = 1280; 80%), and LO (n = 248; 15%) symptoms of trichotillomania did not differ significantly from one another in terms of hair-pulling phenomenologies, comorbidity, functional impact, and perceived treatment response. However, hair-pulling sites varied across the groups; the VEO and EO groups were significantly more likely to pull eyelashes whereas the EO group was more likely to pull pubic hair. Study subjects had current hair-pulling, so biasing the sample to those with more enduring symptoms, despite differences in age of onset of initial pulling. The lack of significant differences found here does not support subtyping hair-pulling by age of onset in patients who present in adulthood.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app