Behavioral and emotional problems in adolescents with Tourette syndrome

Patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) are at risk of an array of behavioral and emotional problems, resulting in social, academic and vocational function impairments. This study intended to examine the nature and severity of behavioral and emotional problems in Taiwanese TS adolescents.

Forty TS adolescents with normal IQ and thirty age- and gender-matched normal controls were evaluated using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) and the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) to understand the severity of tic symptoms, and behavioral and emotional problems. The main caretakers of these adolescents were interviewed using the Chinese version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (CK-SADS) to confirm their comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.

Most TS adolescents in this study had mild tic severity. TS adolescents showed significantly higher scores than normal controls in all CBCL subscales. The 'total most severe tics' YGTSS score was positively correlated with internalization behavior problems, externalization behavior problems and aggressive behavior subscales of the CBCL. As TS adolescents got older, their CBCL scores decreased significantly in internalization behavior problems, externalization behavior problems, and obsessive-compulsive and aggressive behavior subscales.

Taiwanese TS adolescents with mild to moderate tic severity still demonstrated prominent behavior and emotional problems. Although the severity of behavior and emotional problems decreased with increasing age, we still suggest systematic inquiry regarding the psychological well-being and psychiatric comorbidities of young TS patients.