Anxiety and skin diseases

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a relationship exists between anxiety and skin diseases. It was hypothesized that subjects wtih different dermatoses would have different anxiety levels. Subjects with the following skin diseases were compared: atopic dermatitis, cystic acne, noncystic acne, tinea versicolor, and pityriasis rosea. Anxiety levels were measured by use of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The STAI consists of two twenty-item self-report rating scales for two types of anxiety: A-State anxiety, which is transitory or situational, and A-Trait anxiety, which is chronic or an enduring personality trait. A one-way analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the aforementioned groups in both A-State and A-Trait anxiety, with the mean elevations highest in the subjects with disfiguring acne (cystic) and intolerably prurific eczema (atopic dermatitis).