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Skin picking disorder: does a person's sex matter?

Skin picking disorder: does a person's sex matter?
Skin picking disorder: does a person's sex matter?

Background: skin picking disorder (SPD) is characterized by recurrent picking with scarring or tissue damage. Although research suggests that less than one-half of people with SPD are male, there is little clinical information about men with SPD. 

Methods: we recruited 95 non-treatment-seeking adults as part of a cross-sectional study of SPD. Men (n = 17) and women (n = 78) with SPD were compared on clinical and cognitive measures. Sex differences in the demographic and clinical characteristics, skin picking sites, and presence of comorbidities were examined using analysis of variance for continuous variables and likelihood ratio Chi-square tests for categorical variables. 

Results: men were significantly more likely than women to report a first-degree relative with skin picking or hair pulling disorders (P = .0174). Men were less likely to pick from their scalps and backs and picked from fewer sites. Men and women did not significantly differ on skin picking severity, disability, impulsivity, or quality of life. 

Conclusions: these data indicate that SPD is similarly impairing for men and women, but men may have higher familial loading and a somewhat different distribution and frequency of picking sites. Sex differences in SPD merit more detailed consideration in larger samples, including addressing potentially higher genetic/familial loading in males.

Adult, Comorbidity, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Male, Quality of Life, Self-Injurious Behavior/epidemiology, Skin, Trichotillomania/epidemiology
1040-1237
15-20
Grant, Jon E.
07372bd5-8a0d-42b4-b41b-e376c652acf3
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
8a0e09e6-f51f-4039-9287-88debe8d8b6f
Grant, Jon E.
07372bd5-8a0d-42b4-b41b-e376c652acf3
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
8a0e09e6-f51f-4039-9287-88debe8d8b6f

Grant, Jon E. and Chamberlain, Samuel R. (2022) Skin picking disorder: does a person's sex matter? Annals of clinical psychiatry : official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, 34 (1), 15-20. (doi:10.12788/acp.0049).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: skin picking disorder (SPD) is characterized by recurrent picking with scarring or tissue damage. Although research suggests that less than one-half of people with SPD are male, there is little clinical information about men with SPD. 

Methods: we recruited 95 non-treatment-seeking adults as part of a cross-sectional study of SPD. Men (n = 17) and women (n = 78) with SPD were compared on clinical and cognitive measures. Sex differences in the demographic and clinical characteristics, skin picking sites, and presence of comorbidities were examined using analysis of variance for continuous variables and likelihood ratio Chi-square tests for categorical variables. 

Results: men were significantly more likely than women to report a first-degree relative with skin picking or hair pulling disorders (P = .0174). Men were less likely to pick from their scalps and backs and picked from fewer sites. Men and women did not significantly differ on skin picking severity, disability, impulsivity, or quality of life. 

Conclusions: these data indicate that SPD is similarly impairing for men and women, but men may have higher familial loading and a somewhat different distribution and frequency of picking sites. Sex differences in SPD merit more detailed consideration in larger samples, including addressing potentially higher genetic/familial loading in males.

Text
SPD and gender-11-29-20 - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 1 February 2022
Published date: 1 February 2022
Additional Information: Dr. Chamberlain’s role in this study was funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship (110049/Z/15/Z and 110049/Z/15/A).
Keywords: Adult, Comorbidity, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Male, Quality of Life, Self-Injurious Behavior/epidemiology, Skin, Trichotillomania/epidemiology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 456057
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/456057
ISSN: 1040-1237
PURE UUID: 65aef21d-64d9-401f-834d-b83772559612
ORCID for Samuel R. Chamberlain: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-8121

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Date deposited: 25 Apr 2022 16:41
Last modified: 30 Aug 2024 02:00

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Contributors

Author: Jon E. Grant
Author: Samuel R. Chamberlain ORCID iD

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