The relationship of menstrual cycle and pregnancy to compulsive hairpulling
Abstract
Background Trichotillomania (TTM) or compulsive hairpulling is a cyclical disorder that presents predominantly in females. Anecdotal reports of symptom worsening in the premenstruum and during pregnancy led us to retrospectively study the role of these events in hairpulling behavior. Methods Questionnaires assessing demographics, current hairpulling behavior, and the reported effects of menstruation and pregnancy on urges, actual hairpulling and behavioral control were administered to clinic patients and volunteers at a hairpulling conference. The MGH Hairpulling Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory were also completed. Data from 59 hairpullers were analyzed. Results Premenstrual symptom exacerbation was reported for actual hairpulling urge intensity and frequency, and ability to control pulling and was alleviated during menstruation and shortly thereafter. The impact of pregnancy was less unidirectional, with both symptom exacerbation and lessening reported. Conclusions The menstrual cycle appears to affect compulsive hairpulling and deserves recognition in both the assessment and treatment of this disorder. The impact of pregnancy on TTM is less clear.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Keuthen et al. found that 53.3% of a sample of 45 adults with trichotillomania reported that they experienced symptom exacerbation of pulling the week before menstruation.
“In addition, several years ago, Keuthen et al. found that 53.3% of a sample of 45 adults with trichotillomania reported that they experienced symptom exacerbation of pulling the week before menstruation.[27]”
From Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) (2019) · cites this paper as [27]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Psychiatric Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle in Adult Women: A Comprehensive Review
Handy, A. B., Greenfield, S. F., Yonkers, K. A., & Payne, L. A. (2022) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/hrp.0000000000000329 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Feather damaging behaviour in parrots: A review with consideration of comparative aspects
van Zeeland, Y. R. A., Spruit, B. M., Rodenburg, T. B., Riedstra, B., van Hierden, Y. M., Buitenhuis, B., Korte, S. M., & Lumeij, J. T. (2009) · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2009.09.006 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Assessing the validity of current mouse genetic models of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Wang, L., Simpson, H. B., & Dulawa, S. C. (2009) · Behavioural Pharmacology · doi:10.1097/fbp.0b013e32832a80ad · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder)
Grant, J. (2019) · Indian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_529_18 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“3% of a sample of 45 adults with trichotillomania reported that they experienced symptom exacerbation of pulling the week before menstruation.[27] The recent study examining the role of sex hormones in eleven adolescent girls with trichotillomania found that lower progesterone was associated with more severe symptoms…”
- Authors
- Keuthen, N. J., O’Sullivan, R. L., Hayday, C. F., Peets, K. E., Jenike, M. A., & Baer, L.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2010-02-18
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 33-37
- ISSN
- 0033-3190 (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0348
- OpenAlex
- W2090767406
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Hair Growth and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- trichotillomania, menstrual cycle, premenstrual exacerbation, pregnancy, symptom exacerbation, behavioral control
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Menstrual Cycle, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Personality Inventory, Pregnancy, Premenstrual Syndrome, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Trichotillomania
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
