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.
Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center, Providence, RI, USA.
Christopher A
CA
Flessner
Christine
C
Lochner
Dan J
DJ
Stein
Douglas W
DW
Woods
Martin E
ME
Franklin
Nancy J
NJ
Keuthen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult