TRICHOTILLOMANIA AND RELATED DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Eleven chronic hair pullers, 11 subjects with obsessive-compulsive dis order (OCD), and 11 subjects with a non-OCD anxiety disorder were asse ssed with structured interviews and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL ). Only 4 hair pullers (36%) reported both rising tension and relief w ith hair pulling. Each group had significantly more internalizing than externalizing symptoms on the CBCL. Seven hair pullers (64%) had a li fetime history of at least one other axis I diagnosis. The results pro vide further evidence that trichotillomania in referred children and a dolescents is usually a chronic disorder often associated with interna lizing symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity. Rising tension followed b y relief with hair pulling may be an unnecessary restriction in the di agnosis of childhood trichotillomania.