Study finds boredom, not just emotions, drives hair-pulling urges

A study conducted at Heidelberg University Hospital has found that boredom and low arousal levels may play a significant role in hair-pulling disorder, alongside negative emotions. Researchers followed 61 adults diagnosed with the disorder over 10 days. Participants received seven daily prompts to record their emotions, urges to pull their hair and accompanying behaviors, producing 2,557 momentary assessments and 702 documented hair-pulling incidents. Analysis showed that the intensity of the urge to pull hair predicted actual pulling behavior more strongly than emotional state. Anxiety, anger, sadness, guilt and stress increased urges, while positive emotions reduced them. Boredom, however, emerged as the strongest predictor of pulling behavior both at the moment and in subsequent hours. The researchers said the findings indicate that the disorder cannot be explained solely as a problem of emotion regulation, and that arousal levels also play a part. The study was published in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry.