Affective regulation in trichotillomania: Evidence from a large-scale internet survey
Section snippets
The Comprehensive Survey on Trichotillomania
As part of a larger study exploring hair-pulling, we conducted a large-scale survey. We designed the Comprehensive Survey on Trichotillomania and administered it using a web-based survey platform to self-reported hair-pullers. Many hair-pullers do not seek treatment, even those with a severe problem, because of the enormous shame associated with the condition. We investigated a non-referred population to benefit from a larger sample and to gain a better understanding of the putatively large
Completion rates
A total of 1671 people entered the survey website and chose one of the two versions of the survey. Duplicate responses, responses from people under 18 years old, and surveys with no complete sections were removed; otherwise, responses with missing items were accepted. 1468 started and 1162 people finished the Trichotillomania version of the survey, a completion rate of 78.5%. 203 people started and 175 people finished the No Trichotillomania version of the survey, a completion rate of 88.2%.1
Discussion
The current study tests the hypothesis that compulsive hair-pulling satisfies an affective regulation function for the people who engage in it. The data analyzed here suggest that pullers experience more difficulty with controlling their emotions than Non-Pullers. For pullers, the degree of self-reported emotional control is correlated with the severity of the disorder. Furthermore, reported difficulty with the regulation of particular emotions is predictive of the degree to which those
Acknowledgement
We owe thanks to: the Trichotillomania Learning Center, Harvard University Psychology Department, and Wesleyan Quantitative Analysis Center for funding; Emmanuel Kaparakis and Jennifer Rose for assistance with statistical procedures; and to Lacey Beckmann, Matthew Nock, Cary Savage, Caroline Sunshine, and Rebecca Rosenberg for discussion.
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