Stepped Care in the Treatment of Trichotillomania

American University, Washington DC

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Trichotillomania (TTM), repetitive pulling out of one's own hair to the extent that noticeable hair loss occurs, is a distressing condition interfering substantially with functioning and quality of life. The longterm objective of this research is to determine whether psychological treatment of TTM could be disseminated more effectively by using a stepped care model in which less intensive interventions are tried first, with more intensive interventions used only if initial treatment proves insufficient. The present application is for a pilot study of the first two steps in a stepped care model of treatment. After baseline assessment, 50 participants with TTM will be randomly assigned to (a) Immediate condition, in which they are offered 10-week self-help treatment via an interactive website, StopPulling.com (Step 1) or (b) Wait List/Delayed Start condition, a 10-week wait list prior to being offered Step 1. In each condition, at the end of Step 1, participants will be offered 8 weeks of in-person habit reversal training provided by psychology graduate students (Step 2). TTM symptoms will be measured from baseline through a follow-up 3 months after the end of Step 2, as will depression, anxiety, quality of life, functional impairment, treatment utilization, and treatment satisfaction. The specific aims of the study are: (1) To gather preliminary data on the efficacy of StopPulling.com as a step 1 self-help treatment for TTM, compared to wait list control;(2) To characterize the acceptability of stepped care to patients with TTM by assessing the proportion of enrolled participants who proceed from step 1 to step 2 treatment;(3) To evaluate the convergent validity of four decision rules for concluding that a patient with TTM has benefited sufficiently from a treatment step: (a) No longer meeting TTM diagnostic criteria;(b) Showing a 25% or greater reduction in total scores on self-report and clinician-rated TTM symptoms;(c) achieving complete abstinence from hair-pulling;and (d) clinically significant response on both self-report and clinician-rated TTM symptom measures (4) To evaluate the concurrent and predictive validity of criteria for sufficient benefit from a treatment step by relating them to treatment satisfaction, treatment utilization, and scores on a measure of functional impairment from TTM. This pilot study will provide novel, needed information about the acceptability of stepped care and the validity of possible decision rules for considering a treatment step sufficiently helpful. This information will lay the groundwork for future studies of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of stepped care methods for allocating treatment for TTM. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychological disorder in which people repetitively pull out their own hair. There are effective therapies for TTM, but access to expert therapists is limited. This study tests one way to improve access, by starting with web-based self-help and moving on to more costly and intensive treatments only if self-help is insufficient.