{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T01:05:31Z","timestamp":1783559131783,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"S. Karger AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,1]],"date-time":"2015-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1420070400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Services\/SiteLicenses"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,1]],"date-time":"2015-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1420070400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Services\/SiteLicenses"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Psychother Psychosom"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015]]},"abstract":"<b><i>Background:<\/i><\/b> Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by recurrent hair-pulling that results in substantial hair loss. A previous pilot study demonstrated that the online self-help intervention \u2018decoupling' (DC) might be effective at reducing hair-pulling symptoms, with a stronger effect than progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). We aimed to extend these findings using a more robust randomized clinical trial design, including diagnostic interviews by phone, a 6-month follow-up and e-mail support. <b><i>Methods:<\/i><\/b> One hundred five adults with TTM were recruited online and randomly allocated to either DC (n = 55) or PMR (n = 50). The intervention lasted 4 weeks, with severity of TTM assessed at 3 time points (before intervention, immediately after intervention and at the 6-month follow-up) using the Massachusetts General Hospital Hair-Pulling Scale (MGH-HPS). Both intention-to-treat and completer analyses were conducted. <b><i>Results:<\/i><\/b> Intention-to-treat analysis demonstrated highly significant and comparable symptom reductions (MGH-HPS) in both the DC and PMR groups (p < 0.001, partial &#x03B7;<sup>2<\/sup> = 0.31) that persisted through 6 months of follow-up. Participants' subjective appraisals favoured DC in some areas (e.g. greater satisfaction with DC than PMR). Completer analyses demonstrated the same pattern as the intention-to-treat analyses. <b><i>Conclusions:<\/i><\/b> Despite subjective appraisals in favour of DC, symptom reduction was comparable in the two groups. While the results suggest that even short Internet-based interventions like DC and PMR potentially help individuals with TTM, a partial effect of unspecific factors, like regression towards the mean, cannot be ruled out. Therefore, longitudinal studies with non-treated controls are warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1159\/000431290","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,23]],"date-time":"2015-09-23T21:01:28Z","timestamp":1443042088000},"page":"359-367","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Internet-Based Self-Help for Trichotillomania: A Randomized Controlled Study Comparing Decoupling and Progressive Muscle Relaxation"],"prefix":"10.1159","volume":"84","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5267-8217","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steffi","family":"Weidt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Klaghofer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexa","family":"Kuenburg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annette Beatrix","family":"Bruehl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aba","family":"Delsignore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Steffen","family":"Moritz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Rufer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"127","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,24]]},"container-title":["Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Article\/Pdf\/431290","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Article\/Pdf\/431290","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T18:12:41Z","timestamp":1745431961000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/karger.com\/article\/doi\/10.1159\/000431290"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,10,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1159\/000431290","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{"is-supplemented-by":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.6084\/m9.figshare.5128195","asserted-by":"subject"}]},"ISSN":["0033-3190","1423-0348"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0033-3190","type":"print"},{"value":"1423-0348","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015]]}}}