Comparison of Self-Reported and Performance-Based Emotional Granularity in Relation to Skin-Picking Behavior: An Experience Sampling Study

Excessive skin-picking has been conceptualized as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy. One potential contributor to emotion regulation difficulties is low emotional granularity (EG), defined as the ability to precisely differentiate between emotional states. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate whether EG for unpleasant feelings is associated with the severity of skin-picking behavior. A total of 143 individuals (mean age = 25 years, 84% female) participated in an app-assisted one-week experience-sampling study. Twice daily, they provided adjectives to describe their current affective state (performance-based EG) and rated their urge to engage in skin-picking. Additionally, they completed a Skin-Picking Scale (SPS) and an EG questionnaire (self-reported EG). Results showed that higher SPS scores were associated with lower self-reported EG (B = -0.05). However, higher performance-based EG for unpleasant feelings was linked to higher SPS scores (B = 0.02), a greater urge to engage in skin-picking (B = 0.05), and a longer duration of the behavior (B = 0.01). The two EG measures were not correlated (r = 0.01). In conclusion, these findings suggest possible biases in self-perceptions of EG in those who excessively pick their skin. Interventions that train attentional focus and promote the valuing of affective diversity may help align self-reported and performance-based EG, and in turn reduce skin-picking.