Psychopathological problems in children affected by tic disorders - study on a large Italian population

The aim of this study was to assess the psychopathological and behavioural problems in patients affected by any tic disorder and their relationship with the severity of tic symptomatology.

A cross-sectional assessment was made of 125 children and adolescents affected by any tic disorder, all at their first neuropsychiatric evaluation and all drug naïve. Tic disorder diagnoses were established by using The Tourette Syndrome Classification Study Group criteria; the procedures included the administration of Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Children Yale-Brown-Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL).

The patients showed a mild to moderate tic disorder (mean YGTSS score = 27). Of the patients, 19% had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but another 46% showed Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) symptoms. CBCL T total was pathologic in 17% of the children, with higher percentages in the Internalization and Attention Problems subscales. Statistical analysis pointed out a significant relationship between YGTSS and CY-BOCS scores as well as a significant relationship between the duration of tic symptomatology and several CBCL subscales (Internalization, Depressed/Anxious, Thought and Attention Problems).

Our data can be summarized in three main points: a large number of patients have milder tics without any psychopathological comorbidity; OC symptoms are frequently associated with tics, mainly in children with more severe symptomatology; psychopathological problems, in particular internalizing difficulties, are present in children with long standing tic disorders.