THE LONG-TERM TREATMENT OF TRICHOTILLOMANIA - A CASE-STUDY OF A WOMAN WITH PROFOUND MENTAL-RETARDATION LIVING IN AN APPLIED SETTING

The present study reports the successful use of a multi-component treatment for reducing hair pulling (trichotillomania) and resulting alopecia in a 46-year-old woman with a profound cognitive disability. The intervention consisted of a combination of noninjurious high frequency preexisting behaviors as an alternative to hair pulling and wearing of padded hand mitts as an aversive consequence to hair pulling. Results were evaluated using a single blind rating method of monthly photographs, which indicated that the intervention was effective in significantly reducing hair pulling. Social validity of the intervention was also examined. Usefulness of the intervention problem analysis, and the method of photographic data collection in applied settings was discussed.