Ghate Rohit, Hossain Rahat, Lewis Stephen P, Richter Margaret A, Sinyor Mark
Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Jul;151:150-156. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.04.022. Epub 2022 Apr 25.
Trichotillomania is associated with secrecy and reluctance to seek help due to shame and lack of knowledge. Social media can connect people with similar lived experience. However, there is no literature regarding online communities related to trichotillomania. This study is a content analysis of depictions of trichotillomania on YouTube to identify the potential role of social media in this disorder.
We used a cross-sectional observational study to examine the 100 most-viewed YouTube videos for trichotillomania content until June 2018. Up to 96 variables were abstracted from each video including demographics, characteristics of the videos, and depictions of trichotillomania.
View counts ranged from 9,186 to 15,597,149. Uploaders had a mean age of 20.1 years, were mostly female (85%) and appearing Caucasian (63%). Nearly half of the videos were self-filmed stories (48%). Most had a neutral message (44%), provided strategies to stop hair-pulling (31%), or focused on stimulating discussion (17%). Approximately half had a factual tone (51%) and many were hopeful (44%). Videos accurately described hair-pulling and associated characteristics.
This study was limited to an analysis of video content. Future research should examine the comments on the videos as well as other social media platforms. It may also be important to assess the socioeconomic status of video uploaders and ensure the broader accessibility of positive messages on trichotillomania.
People with trichotillomania may find positive messages, information, and helpful recommendations on YouTube. This may represent an under-leveraged venue to improve clinical outcomes for people with trichotillomania.
拔毛癖患者因羞耻感和知识匮乏而往往不愿声张且羞于寻求帮助。社交媒体能够将有相似生活经历的人联系起来。然而，目前尚无关于拔毛癖在线社区的文献。本研究旨在对YouTube上有关拔毛癖的描述进行内容分析，以确定社交媒体在这种疾病中的潜在作用。
我们采用横断面观察性研究方法，对截至2018年6月YouTube上观看次数最多的100个拔毛癖相关视频进行分析。从每个视频中提取多达96个变量，包括人口统计学信息、视频特征以及拔毛癖的描述。
视频的观看次数从9186次到15597149次不等。上传者的平均年龄为20.1岁，大多数为女性（85%），且多为白种人（63%）。近一半的视频是自拍故事（48%）。大多数视频传达中立信息（44%），提供停止拔毛的策略（31%），或侧重于激发讨论（17%）。大约一半的视频语气客观（51%），许多视频传递出希望（44%）。视频准确描述了拔毛行为及相关特征。
本研究仅限于对视频内容的分析。未来的研究应考察视频评论以及其他社交媒体平台。评估视频上传者的社会经济状况，并确保关于拔毛癖的积极信息更广泛地传播，也可能很重要。
拔毛癖患者可能会在YouTube上找到积极的信息、建议和有益的推荐。这可能是一个尚未充分利用的途径，有助于改善拔毛癖患者的临床治疗效果。
