Parental Bonding in Trichotillomania and Skin Picking Disorder

One means of understanding the effect of environmental factors on psychiatric disorders is by examining perceived parenting behavior in the childhood of individuals with trichotillomania and skin picking disorder (i.e. body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs)). We hypothesized that adults with BFRBs would show higher scores on dimensions of "care" and "overprotection". Specifically, we predicted that adults with BFRBs would have parents in the "affectionate constraint" quadrant, based on a combination of high care and high protection scores.

We assessed demographic and clinical differences in 184 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 with Trichotillomania (TTM) (n = 43) and Skin Picking Disorder (SPD) (n = 75), and both (n = 66). The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) measured "care" and "overprotection" items. Results from the PBI were compared across groups and with normal control data using independent sample t-tests.

Individuals in the BFRB group had significantly lower maternal and paternal care scores compared to controls. The TTM, SPD, and TTM + SPD (combined) groups all had lower maternal care scores than controls. The TTM + SPD (combined) group had significantly lower paternal care scores and higher maternal protection scores than the normative averages. The most common parenting patterns in subjects with BFRBs were maternal and paternal affectionless control (low care/high protection). From our sample, only 27 % reported optimal maternal parenting and 28 % reported optimal paternal parenting.

These preliminary data suggest that low maternal and paternal care may be associated with BFRBs. However, the nature of this relationship should be further explored, as these results do not necessarily mean that affectionless control parenting leads to a predisposition to BFRBs, and there may in fact be other environmental factors at play. Identifying how individuals perceive familial relationships may provide direction for clinicians in developing tools to address the burden caused by BFRBs.