Brief report: cognitive functioning in children with Tourette's syndrome with and without comorbid ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS) with and without comorbid attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differ in cognitive functioning and whether a higher level of cognitive functioning is associated with severity of TS symptoms and psychosocial functioning.


METHODS
Cognitive functioning, symptom severity, and psychosocial functioning were examined in 40 patients (33 boys, 7 girls; age range 6-18 years) with TS, of whom 17 had the comorbid diagnosis of ADHD.


RESULTS
Patients with a comorbid ADHD diagnosis evidenced poorer performance than those with TS alone with respect to severity of TS symptoms, psychosocial functioning, verbal and performance intelligence, and word fluency, but not on tests of cognitive flexibility. Psychosocial functioning was predicted by symptom severity, but not by intelligence or fluency.


CONCLUSIONS
Results confirm prior findings that comorbid ADHD is associated with more TS symptoms and worse psychosocial and cognitive functioning, and motivate whether cognitive flexibility plays a role in moderating the deleterious psychosocial effects of Tourette's syndrome and ADHD.
Brand
Nico
N
Department of Health Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. N.Brand@fss.uu.nl
Geenen
Rinie
R
Oudenhoven
Milo
M
Lindenborn
Bastiaan
B
van der Ree
Annette
A
Cohen-Kettenis
Peggy
P
Buitelaar
Jan K
JK
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012917:Social Adjustment; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*