Behavioral Treatment of Trichotillomania and Trichophagia in a 29-Month-Old Girl

Abstract

Early childhood trichotillomania (TTM) has often been considered to be benign. However, untreated early childhood TTM can have significant negative physical and psychological consequences. This report describes the behavioral treatment of a 29-month-old girl with TTM. Treatment consisted of 14 daily sessions of behavioral intervention, followed by 3 consecutive days of follow-up treatment conducted 7 weeks after the end of initial treatment. The hair pulling was addressed by using reinforcers for not pulling, provided at intervals of increasing length. At the end of initial treatment, the hair pulling improved significantly. At follow-up, although some of the initial treatment gains were reduced, the patient maintained significant improvement compared with baseline.