The Skin Picking Impact Scale: Factor structure, validity and development of a short version

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Skin picking disorder (SPD) is a condition with significant psychosocial impact.
• The Skin Picking Impact Scale (SPIS) is a self-report questionnaire used to assess this impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the psychometric properties of the full 10-item SPIS.
• To develop and validate an abbreviated 4-item version of the SPIS.

Main Methods:

• Online survey of 650 individuals diagnosed with SPD.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted.
• Internal consistency, discriminant, and convergent/concurrent validity were assessed.

Main Results:

• The full 10-item SPIS demonstrated a unitary factor structure with high internal consistency (α = 0.94).
• An abbreviated 4-item SPIS was developed, retaining good internal consistency (α = 0.87) and a robust factor structure.
• Both versions showed discriminant and convergent/concurrent validity.

Conclusions:

• Both the full and abbreviated SPIS are psychometrically sound measures for assessing the psychosocial impact of SPD.
• The 4-item version offers a concise alternative while maintaining validity.
• Potential limitations of the full scale were discussed.