Hande Günal OKUMUŞ, Makbule Esen ÖKSÜZOĞLU, Hilal SUBAŞI, Ayşe Selma Yenen MENDERES, Nazlı Merve KORKMAZ, İsranur Yenen SİVRİ, Yusuf Selman ÇELİK, Meryem KAŞAK
Health Sciences Quarterly - 2026;6(3):471-487
This study aimed to investigate sensory processing profiles in adolescents diagnosed with Skin Picking Disorder (SPD) and compare them with healthy controls. Eighty-eight adolescents aged 12-18 years, including 45 with SPD and 43 healthy controls, completed the Dunn Sensory Profile (DSP), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and Generic Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Scale-8 (GBS-8), and clinician-rated severity was assessed using the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S). Compared with controls, adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly higher DSP total scores (160.8+/-34.8 vs. 107.3+/-25.0; p<.001) and higher scores across all four Dunn sensory patterns, including low registration, sensory sensitivity, sensory avoidance (p<.001), as well as sensation seeking (p=.003). The SPD group also showed markedly higher Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) severity (GBS-8 total: 16.8+/-5.4 vs. 0.8+/-1.8; p<.001) and greater psychological distress (BSI global indices; all p<.001). Within the SPD group, DSP total scores correlated strongly with SPD severity and psychological distress (e.g., GBS-8 total p=.77; BSI-GSI p=.82). In hierarchical logistic regression, BSI-PSDI and low sensory registration remained significantly associated with SPD status after adjustment for age, sex, and family psychiatric history. Sensory processing abnormalities, particularly in registration and sensitivity dimensions, may be clinically relevant features of adolescent SPD. These findings support incorporating sensory-profile assessment and considering sensory-informed strategies as adjuncts in the clinical management of SPD.
