Body-focused repetitive behaviors in children and adolescents, clinical characteristics, and the effects of treatment choices on symptoms: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: This study determines clinical features of body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) among a sample of Turkish children and adolescents, evaluates the naturalistic treatments selected in this sample, and determines the effects of those treatments during a 3-month follow-up.

Methods: The study included a cohort of 67 patients 9 to 17 years old attending a tertiary center between March and June 2013 with complaints of nail biting, skin picking, and/or hair pulling. The patients completed psychometric scales and were evaluated for symptom severity, improvement, and adverse effects after an initial interview and at control visits during the 4th and 8th weeks.

Results: The most common BFRB was nail biting. In nail-biting behavior, subjective awareness was higher, and urges prior to the behavior and release after the behavior were found to be higher. Although there was no significant difference between the choice of treatment and the course of psychiatric measures, significant improvement was found in functionality after treatment.

Conclusions: Despite its limitations, the small number of studies on BFRBs increases the importance of studies in this area.