Trichotillomania: a journey of personal empowerment: a qualitative study of women who engage in chronic hair pulling

Update Item Information
Title Trichotillomania: a journey of personal empowerment: a qualitative study of women who engage in chronic hair pulling
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Education
Department Educational Psychology
Author Dixon, Melissa Marie
Date 2016
Description Trichotillomania is an understudied chronic condition with unknown etiology and epidemiology that affects a significant number of girls and women. This study addressed the overarching question, What are the experiences and perceptions of women who engage in hair pulling? "Trichotillomania: A Journey of Personal Empowerment" was a qualitative study of 22 women that addressed their lived experience of hair pulling and their assigned meaning of their hair pulling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with each participant. A grounded theory approach to analysis was applied to the data. The narratives of the participants yielded an understanding of when and why hair pulling took hold, how others' conceptualizations of trichotillomania created barriers to accountability and acceptance, and how women empowered themselves to conceptualize their hair pulling and to determine the role that hair pulling plays in their lives. The women's conceptualizations of trichotillomania, based on their experiences and perceptions of their hair pulling, provided clear evidence for why it is so important to include hair pullers in the global conversation on trichotillomania.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject empowerment; hair pulling; obsessive compulsive; qualitative; trauma; trichotillomania
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management ©Melissa Marie Dixon
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 805,032 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/4184
ARK ark:/87278/s6nk6pcr
Setname ir_etd
ID 197730
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6nk6pcr
Back to Search Results