Brief mindfulness training programs are increasingly popular approaches for reducing negative affectivity. This meta-analysis indicates that brief mindfulness training modestly reduces negative affectivity. Quantitative analyses indicated the presence of publication bias (i.e., unpublished null effect studies), highlighting the need to continue rigorous evaluation of brief mindfulness interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Skin Picking Disorder (SPD) is a newly recognized psychiatric disorder in DSM-5. A systematic review was conducted to assess the efficacy of pharmacological and behavioral interventions for SPD. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or uncontrolled trials involving at least 10 subjects that examined the efficacy of pharmacological and behavioral interventions for SPD. We examined the improvement associated with interventions compared to inactive control conditions in RCTs and improvement over time in uncontrolled trials and within the treatment arms of RCTs. We stratified studies based on intervention type. Meta-analysis included 11 studies. All interventions (including inactive control conditions) demonstrated significant improvement over the course of short-term clinical trials in SPD. Only behavioral treatments demonstrated significant benefits compared to inactive control conditions. There was no evidence from RCTs that pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or lamotrigine were more effective at treating SPD than placebo. Our meta-analysis suggests that SPD subjects show significant improvement during short-term trials, regardless of the efficacy of the underlying intervention. This finding suggests that uncontrolled trials are of particularly limited utility for assessing efficacy of treatments in SPD. Future research should concentrate on developing larger placebo-controlled RCTs to examine efficacy of novel pharmacological agents. Additionally, research should focus on improving accessibility of behavioral treatments with demonstrated efficacy for SPD.

Objective To examine long-term outcome in children with trichotillomania. Method We conducted follow-up clinical assessments an average of 2.8 ± 0.8 years after baseline evaluation in 30 out of 39 children who previously participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for pediatric trichotillomania. Our primary outcome was change in hairpulling severity on the Massachusetts General Hospital-Hairpulling Scale (MGH-HPS) between the end of the acute phase and follow-up evaluation. We also obtained secondary measures examining styles of hairpulling, comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as continued treatment utilization. We examined both correlates and predictors of outcome (change in MGH-HPS score) using linear regression. Results None of the participants continued to take NAC at the time of follow-up assessment. No significant changes in hairpulling severity were reported over the follow-up period. Subjects reported significantly increased anxiety and depressive symptoms but improvement in automatic pulling symptoms. Increased hairpulling symptoms during the follow-up period were associated with increased depression and anxiety symptoms and increased focused pulling. Older age and greater focused pulling at baseline assessment were associated with poor long-term prognosis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that few children with trichotillomania experience a significant improvement in trichotillomania symptoms if behavioral treatments are inaccessible or have failed to produce adequate symptom relief. Our findings also confirm results of previous cross-sectional studies that suggest an increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms with age in pediatric trichotillomania. Increased focused pulling and older age among children with trichotillomania symptoms may be associated with poorer long-term prognosis.