Psychological characteristics of women with androgenetic alopecia: a controlled study.

The psychological characteristics and the hair problems of 58 females with androgenetic alopecia were compared with a group of women with non-apparent dermatological diseases, and with a group of men with androgenetic alopecia. The women with androgenetic alopecia had higher scores for self-sufficiency and social inadequacy compared to women with non-visible dermatological complaints, and they scored higher for inadequacy, rigidity and general psychological maladjustment than the men and had lower scores for injuredness self-evaluation and self-esteem. The women with androgenetic alopecia had more psychosocial problems, which they attributed to the hair loss, than the other groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]