People who are impatient or are easily bored or frustrated are more likely to develop body-focused repetitive behaviours, such as picking their skin and biting their nails, a study has found.

Canadian researchers monitored the progress of 48 people, half of whom had these repetitive behaviours. All completed detailed questionnaires on their emotions, including, anger, guilt and anxiety.

They were then exposed to four experimental situations, with each one designed to provoke feelings of either stress, relaxation, frustration or boredom. For example, the frustration situation saw the participants being given a task which they were told would be quick and easy to complete, but it was not.

The boredom situation saw them left alone in a room for six minutes.

The study found that those with a history of body-focused repetitive behaviours felt a greater urge to carry out these behaviours when they were bored or frustrated, but not when they were relaxed.

According to the study's principal investigator, Kieron O'Connor, of the University of Montreal, these behaviours, which also include chronic hair pulling (trichotillomania), can induce distress, but also ‘seem to satisfy an urge and deliver some form of reward'.

"We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviours may be perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform tasks at a ‘normal' pace. They are therefore prone to frustration, impatience, and dissatisfaction when they do not reach their goals. They also experience greater levels of boredom," Mr O'Connor said.

The researchers suggested that people affected by these behaviours may benefit from treatments ‘designed to reduce frustration and boredom and to modify perfectionist beliefs'.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry.