title: Characteristics of Executive Functioning in a Small Sample of Children With Tourette Syndrome.
abstract: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder that involves at least one vocal tic and two or more motor tics; however, associated symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are common. Many children with TS exhibit educational difficulties and one possible explanation may be deficits in executive functioning. The focus of this study was to look at the severity of symptoms often associated with TS (tics and OCD and ADHD symptoms) and its potential relationship with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) Parent Form in 11 children diagnosed with TS aged 8 to 14 years old. The parent of the child completed the BRIEF along with symptom measures evaluating tics, OCD behaviors, and ADHD symptoms. Despite relatively low mean scores on the symptom measures and just a few children exhibiting clinically significant scores on the BRIEF indexes, at least half the children exhibited abnormal scores on the Working Memory, Inhibit, and Shift subscales of the BRIEF. Varying patterns of relationships were found on the BRIEF subscales for each symptom severity scale. Results suggest that the BRIEF may be useful in determining the specific areas of difficulty in a population with variable symptomatology.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology, Special Education, and Communication Disorders , Georgia State University , Atlanta , Georgia.
authors.forename: Dina M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Schwam
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute , Georgia State University , Atlanta , Georgia.
authors.forename: Tricia Z
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology, Special Education, and Communication Disorders , Georgia State University , Atlanta , Georgia.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013981:Tic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: ADHD; BRIEF; OCD; Tourette syndrome; executive function