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Prevalence of body-focused repetitive behaviors in a diverse population sample – rates across age, gender, race and education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2023

Steffen Moritz Open the ORCID record for Steffen Moritz [Opens in a new window] ,
Jakob Scheunemann Open the ORCID record for Jakob Scheunemann [Opens in a new window] ,
Lena Jelinek Open the ORCID record for Lena Jelinek [Opens in a new window] ,
Danielle Penney ,
Stella Schmotz Open the ORCID record for Stella Schmotz [Opens in a new window] ,
Luca Hoyer ,
Dominik Grudzień  and
Adrianna Aleksandrowicz
Steffen Moritz*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Jakob Scheunemann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Lena Jelinek
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Danielle Penney
Affiliation:
Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montréal, Canada
Stella Schmotz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Luca Hoyer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Dominik Grudzień
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Adrianna Aleksandrowicz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
*
Corresponding author: Steffen Moritz; Email: moritz@uke.uni-hamburg.de
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Abstract

Background

Prevalence estimates for body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as trichotillomania differ greatly across studies owing to several confounding factors (e.g. different criteria). For the present study, we recruited a diverse online sample to provide estimates for nine subtypes of BFRBs and body-focused repetitive disorders (BFRDs).

Methods

The final sample comprised 1481 individuals from the general population. Several precautions were taken to recruit a diverse sample and to exclude participants with low reliability. We matched participants on gender, race, education and age range to allow unbiased interpretation.

Results

While almost all participants acknowledged at least one BFRB in their lifetime (97.1%), the rate for BFRDs was 24%. Nail biting (11.4%), dermatophagia (8.7%), skin picking (8.2%), and lip-cheek biting (7.9%) were the most frequent BFRDs. Whereas men showed more lifetime BFRBs, the rate of BFRDs was higher in women than in men. Rates of BFRDs were low in older participants, especially after the age of 40. Overall, BFRBs and BFRDs were more prevalent in White than in non-White individuals. Education did not show a strong association with BFRB/BFRDs.

Discussion

BFRBs are ubiquitous. More severe forms, BFRDs, manifest in approximately one out of four people. In view of the often-irreversible somatic sequelae (e.g. scars) BFRBs/BFRDs deserve greater diagnostic and therapeutic attention by clinicians working in both psychology/psychiatry and somatic medicine (especially dermatology and dentistry).

Keywords

body-focused repetitive behaviorsgendernail bitingprevalenceskin pickingtrichotillomania
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , First View , pp. 1 - 7
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

Joint first authors

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