We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The self-mutilative nature of severe onychophagia: a comparison with self-cutting.
- Authors
Wells, Jennifer H; Haines, Janet; Williams, Christopher L; Brain, Kerryn L; Wells, J H; Haines, J; Williams, C L; Brain, K L
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>To investigate the psychophysiological pattern associated with severe and mild onychophagia, and to compare this pattern with that demonstrated by previous research on self-cutting.<bold>Method: </bold>Comparisons between the psychophysiological responses accompanying 3 behaviours were made using a guided imagery methodology. Imagery of nail-related, skin-cutting, and neutral events were presented in 4 stages.<bold>Results: </bold>Experiment I distinguished participants exhibiting severe and mild onychophagia by the severity and frequency of nail-biting and by the pattern of psychophysiological response across the stages. Experiment II indicated that the change in psychophysiological arousal accompanying severe onychophagia was not as dramatic as that demonstrated for skin-cutting. The behaviour seems to be less effective in reducing tension.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Severe onychophagia appears to manage the level of tension experienced by an individual, instead of dramatically reducing it in times of crisis. Such a process is consistent with that demonstrated in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Subjects
SELF-injurious behavior; PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY &; genetics; PREVENTION of psychological stress; ANALYSIS of variance; AROUSAL (Physiology); BEHAVIOR; CHI-squared test; HABIT; HEART beat; MUSCLE contraction; RESPIRATION; SKIN physiology; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress; VISUALIZATION; CROSS-sectional method; SEVERITY of illness index; PSYCHOLOGICAL factors
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 1999, Vol 44, Issue 1, p40
- ISSN
0706-7437
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1177/070674379904400105