BACKGROUND Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are highly prevalent conditions at the border of psychiatry and dermatology. Using a newly developed scale, the Generic BFRB scale (GBS-36), we aimed to compare 4 prominent BFRBs in terms of phenomenology, age at onset, and other illness-related aspects. METHODS A sample of 391 individuals with different forms of BFRBs completed the GBS-36, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF global item (quality of life). RESULTS Most individuals showed multiple BFRBs (73.9%). Skin picking and nail biting were reported most frequently (nail biting: 68.3%; skin picking: 60.9%; trichotillomania: 52.4%; lip-cheek biting: 31.7%). Nail biting was most common in childhood; the other BFRBs began mainly in adolescence. Both trichotillomania and skin picking were associated with the greatest impairment and urge to perform the behavior. The 2 conditions also showed a higher association with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Overall symptom severity was correlated with earlier age of onset, number of concurrent BFRBs, and severity of depression as well as suicidality. CONCLUSIONS BFRBs are a heterogeneous group of conditions, with trichotillomania and skin picking showing the largest similarities. Whether the observed differences reflect specific etiological factors awaits further testing.

中文翻译：

---

相同但又不同？各种类型的以身体为中心的重复行为之间的现象学差异。

背景以身体为中心的重复行为（BFRB）是精神病学和皮肤病学边界上非常普遍的病症。使用新开发的量表，即通用 BFRB 量表 (GBS-36)，我们的目的是在现象学、发病年龄和其他疾病相关方面比较 4 种著名的 BFRB。方法 391 名患有不同形式 BFRB 的个体样本完成了 GBS-36、患者健康问卷 9（抑郁症）和世界卫生组织生活质量 - BREF 全球项目（生活质量）。结果大多数人表现出多个 BFRB（73.9%）。最常报告的是抓皮肤和咬指甲（咬指甲：68.3%；抓皮肤：60.9%；拔毛癖：52.4%；咬唇颊：31.7%）。咬指甲在儿童时期最为常见。其他 BFRB 主要始于青春期。拔毛癖和抠皮肤都与最大的损害和执行该行为的冲动有关。这两种情况也显示出与强迫症的关联性较高。总体症状严重程度与发病年龄较早、同时发生 BFRB 的数量、抑郁和自杀的严重程度相关。结论 BFRB 是一组异质性疾病，其中拔毛癖和抓皮肤表现出最大的相似性。观察到的差异是否反映了特定的病因因素有待进一步测试。