Cognitive reappraisal and types of skin picking – A longitudinal study with pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic data

During the COVID-19 pandemic many individuals are exposed to stress of unknown duration, and due to prolonged stay-at-home period they are cut off from access to many effective coping strategies. This situation may exaggerate the use of maladaptive coping methods that are triggered by stress and boredom, and may be adopted in isolation, such as pathological skin picking. The aim of our study was to investigate the change in skin picking behaviours during the pandemic in comparison with the time prior to the pandemic onset. We also tested whether applying cognitive reappraisal as an coping strategy may affect skin picking. Self-report questionnaires measuring: automatic and focused skin picking, cognitive reappraisal, the experience of stress and loneliness were administered online to a non-clinical sample three times: 1) before the pandemic, 2) during mandatory stay at home; 3) at the time when most strict restrictions were lifted. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyse the data. Cognitive reappraisal was found to be negatively associated with focused skin-picking regardless of the time of the measurement. In case of automatic skin picking, the link with cognitive reappraisal was significant only at the baseline and disappeared during the pandemic.