title: Personality Profile of Male Adolescents With Tourette Syndrome: A Controlled Study.
abstract: Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple tics and commonly associated with behavioral problems, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The presence of specific personality traits has been documented in adult clinical populations with Tourette syndrome but has been underresearched in younger patients. We assessed the personality profiles of 17 male adolescents with Tourette syndrome and 51 age- and gender-matched healthy controls using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent version, along with a standardized psychometric battery. All participants scored within the normal range across all Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent version scales. Patients with Tourette syndrome scored significantly higher than healthy controls on the Obsessiveness Content Scale only (P = .046). Our findings indicate that younger male patients with Tourette syndrome do not report abnormal personality traits and have similar personality profiles to healthy peers, with the exception of obsessionality traits, which are likely to be related to the presence of comorbid obsessive compulsive symptoms rather than tics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Balottin
authors.affiliation: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Selvini
authors.affiliation: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mannarini
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, "C. Mondino" National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiappedi
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seri
authors.affiliation: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Termine
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom Department of Neuropsychiatry, BSMHFT and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL and Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom A.Cavanna@ion.ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Cavanna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009770:Obsessive Behavior; D010551:Personality; D010556:Personality Tests; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: MMPI-A; Tourette syndrome; behavioral problems; personality; tics