title: Trichotillomania and related disorders in children and adolescents.
abstract: Eleven chronic hair pullers, 11 subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), and 11 subjects with a non-OCD anxiety disorder were assessed with structured interviews and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Only 4 hair pullers (36%) reported both rising tension and relief with hair pulling. Each group had significantly more internalizing than externalizing symptoms on the CBCL. Seven hair pullers (64%) had a lifetime history of at least one other axis I diagnosis. The results provide further evidence that trichotillomania in referred children and adolescents is usually a chronic disorder often associated with internalizing symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity. Rising tension followed by relief with hair pulling may be an unnecessary restriction in the diagnosis of childhood trichotillomania.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0390, USA.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hanna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*