Focused compulsive Skin Picking predict subthreshold hypomanic symptoms in community late adolescents

Purpose. Compulsive Skin Picking (SP) is a psychiatric condition characterized by repetitive picking behaviours, that result in significant tissue damage and are accompanied by marked distress or functional impairment. Recent research identified an “Automatic” SP subtype, occurring outside of one’s awareness, including situations in which the individual picks his/her skin while engaged in a sedentary activity, such as reading or watching television, a “Focused” subtype, a more intentional behaviour engaged in response to an urge or other negative emotions, and a mixed subtype. Yet SP is understudied and no contribution examined the relation between compulsive SP subtypes and hypomanic symptoms in the onset time of Bipolar Disorders. The current cross-sectional study investigated which SP subtypes could predict subthreshold hypomanic symptoms in a cohort of community late adolescents. Materials and methods. One hundred and thirty-six community late adolescents (mean age=21.77 years, SD=2.26, range=18–25, 80.00% females) completed the Milwaukee Inventory for the Dimensions of Adult Skin Picking and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III Hypomania and Dysthymia scales. Results. Higher levels of Focused SP predicted more severe hypomanic symptoms (β= 0.18, t= 2.20, p<.05) beyond the effects of dysthymic symptoms (β= 0.31, t= 3.64, p<.001). Automatic and Mixed SP had not an effect on hypomanic symptoms. Conclusion. Focused SP might be a subtype involved in subthreshold symptoms of Bipolar Disorders. Future research should deserve attention to comorbidity between SP and Bipolar Disorders and investigate whether SP might be a first-stage type of symptoms predicting the onset of Bipolar Disorders.