Variables Associated With Tic Exacerbation in Children With Chronic Tic Disorders.
Research has shown that motor and vocal tics fluctuate in frequency, intensity, and form in response to environmental and contextual cues. Behavioral models have proposed that some of the variation in tics may reflect context-dependent interactive learning processes such that once tics are performed, they are influenced by environmental contingencies. The current study describes the results of a function-based assessment of tics (FBAT) from a recently completed study comparing Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) with supportive psychotherapy. The current study describes the frequency with which antecedent and consequence variables were reported to exacerbate tics and the relationships between these functional variables and sample baseline characteristics, comorbidities, and measures of tic severity. Results showed that tic-exacerbating antecedents and consequences were nearly ubiquitous in a sample of children with chronic tic disorder. In addition, functional variables were related to baseline measures of comorbid internalizing symptoms and specific measures of tic severity.
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA michael.himle@utah.edu.
Michael B
MB
Himle
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.
Matthew R
MR
Capriotti
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
Loran P
LP
Hayes
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
Krishnapriya
K
Ramanujam
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Lawrence
L
Scahill
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Denis G
DG
Sukhodolsky
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Sabine
S
Wilhelm
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Thilo
T
Deckersbach
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA.
Alan L
AL
Peterson
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Matt W
MW
Specht
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
John T
JT
Walkup
University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Susanna
S
Chang
University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
John
J
Piacentini
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D013981:Tic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*
Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics; Tourette disorder; chronic tic disorder; function-based assessment