Personal toll of trichotillomania: behavioral and interpersonal sequelae.

Patients suffering from trichotillomania are at risk for significant mood and interpersonal problems. Using a clinical sample, this study sought to clarify the nature and types of problems experienced by patients and to examine how these problems might be interrelated. The charts of 67 patients who sought treatment for trichotillomania were reviewed. The majority of patients reported problems with affect and interpersonal relationships. Public and social activities (e.g., haircuts, sexual activities) were avoided by a large number of patients. Self-esteem, shame, feelings of unattractiveness, depressed affect, and secretiveness were all interrelated, suggesting that these issues might best be conceptualized as a cluster that needs to be considered in the etiology, effects, and treatment of trichotillomania.

Do children with PDDNOS have a theory of mind?

This study sought to differentiate PDDNOS from a similar nonautistic disorder (i.e., language impairment) on the basis of a cognitive deficit, theory-of-mind (ToM). ToM is an ability to infer mental states in others and has been found to be highly prevalent in autism, a disorder that shares many characteristics with PDDNOS (Baron-Cohen, 1985; Volkmar & Cohen, 1988). A sample of 28 children with either PDDNOS or a language impairment formed two groups (n = 14), matched on gender and verbal mental age. Participants were administered the brain function task (Baron-Cohen, 1989) and the false belief task (Perner, Frith, Leslie, & Leekam, 1989) to assess ToM. Results suggest that children with PDDNOS are deficient in a ToM ability, however, this relationship is not as strong as in previous studies with autistic samples, suggesting that children with PDDNOS may have a greater ToM ability. The existence of PDDNOS on the higher end of a spectrum of the Pervasive Developmental disorders as well as the construct of ToM itself existing on a continuum are discussed.

Trichotillomania: a comprehensive behavioral model.

As our knowledge of chronic hair pulling as neither rare nor benign has increased, so has the need for a comprehensive framework to guide our conceptualization of this disorder for both research and clinical work. Such a model is presented which incorporates (a) the varied antecedents that both cue the impulse to pull and facilitate pulling, (b) the wide array of behaviors involved in the actual pulling, and (c) the full range of consequences of pulling. The cyclical nature of pulling episodes is highlighted.