Fixation on Irregular Skin Stimuli in Individuals with Pathological Skin Picking
Mentor 1
Han-Joo Lee
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
Pathological skin picking (PSP) is considered a behavioral addiction due to an excessive and reoccurring urge to pick, scratch, or rub one’s skin to the point of scarring or lesions. Individuals with PSP seek to correct perceived flaws on their skin and report relief from tension, anxiety, or stress after conducting the behavior. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between eye tracking indices and their influence on urges to pick and emotional symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). It was hypothesized that greater average fixation duration (AFD) to irregular skin stimuli would be significantly correlated with (1) higher reported urges to pick, and (2) greater reports of emotional symptoms (i.e., worse emotional symptoms). We recruited subjects (n=32) with PSP to participate in this study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an average age of 22.44 (SD=4.43) and they were predominantly female (n=29). The relationships were investigated using eye-tracking, self-report questionnaires (SPS-R, DASS-21) and a behavioral assessment task (BAT) measuring the reported urges to pick. Stimuli on the eye-tracking task included two images of skin (normal and irregular) and two of wood (smooth and rough). Participants were instructed to freely view the stimuli on the screen during each trial, while their fixations were recorded. Using a Pearson’s r correlation, results indicated that increased AFD was significantly correlated with higher scores on the BAT, thus supporting our first hypothesis. However, increased AFD was not correlated with increased reports of emotional symptoms. The findings suggest that irregular skin stimuli may provoke urges to pick, but not emotional symptoms. The results provide valuable information about the implicit processes underlying PSP. Future research may investigate how eye-tracking indices and BAT scores change after an intervention is implemented (e.g., therapy).
Fixation on Irregular Skin Stimuli in Individuals with Pathological Skin Picking
Union Wisconsin Room
Pathological skin picking (PSP) is considered a behavioral addiction due to an excessive and reoccurring urge to pick, scratch, or rub one’s skin to the point of scarring or lesions. Individuals with PSP seek to correct perceived flaws on their skin and report relief from tension, anxiety, or stress after conducting the behavior. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between eye tracking indices and their influence on urges to pick and emotional symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). It was hypothesized that greater average fixation duration (AFD) to irregular skin stimuli would be significantly correlated with (1) higher reported urges to pick, and (2) greater reports of emotional symptoms (i.e., worse emotional symptoms). We recruited subjects (n=32) with PSP to participate in this study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an average age of 22.44 (SD=4.43) and they were predominantly female (n=29). The relationships were investigated using eye-tracking, self-report questionnaires (SPS-R, DASS-21) and a behavioral assessment task (BAT) measuring the reported urges to pick. Stimuli on the eye-tracking task included two images of skin (normal and irregular) and two of wood (smooth and rough). Participants were instructed to freely view the stimuli on the screen during each trial, while their fixations were recorded. Using a Pearson’s r correlation, results indicated that increased AFD was significantly correlated with higher scores on the BAT, thus supporting our first hypothesis. However, increased AFD was not correlated with increased reports of emotional symptoms. The findings suggest that irregular skin stimuli may provoke urges to pick, but not emotional symptoms. The results provide valuable information about the implicit processes underlying PSP. Future research may investigate how eye-tracking indices and BAT scores change after an intervention is implemented (e.g., therapy).
