title: Sleep, anxiety and psychiatric symptoms in children with Tourette syndrome and tic disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study evaluated the relationship between tic, sleep disorders and specific psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms).
  
  
  METHODS
  Assessment of 36 consecutive children and adolescents with tic disorders included: the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) to assess the severity of tic symptoms; the Self-administered scale for children and adolescents (SAFA) to evaluate the psychopathological profile; a specific sleep questionnaire consisting of 45 items to assess the presence of sleep disorders. An age and sex-matched control group was used for comparisons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sleep was significantly more disturbed in patients with tic disorders than in controls. Difficulties in initiating sleep and increased motor activity during sleep were the most frequent sleep disturbances found in our sample. Patients showed also symptoms of anxiety (SAFA A), depressed mood (SAFA D) and doubt-indecision (SAFA O). Additionally, difficulties in initiating sleep resulted associated with other SAFA subscales relative to obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression symptoms. Furthermore, anxiety symptoms (SAFA A) resulted associated with increased motor activity during sleep.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings confirm literature studies reporting high frequency of sleep problems, anxiety and other psychopathological symptoms in patients with tic disorders, and support the hypothesis that intrusive thoughts and other emotional disturbances might disrupt the sleep onset of these patients. These results suggest the importance of a thorough assessment of sleep and psychiatric disturbances in patients with tic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: sergio.modafferi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Modafferi
authors.affiliation: Systems Medicine Department, Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Tor Vergata University Hospital, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: stornelli.maddalena@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maddalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stornelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: flavia.chiarotti@iss.it.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.cardona@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cardona
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: oliviero.bruni@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Oliviero
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bruni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013981:Tic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Anxiety; Psychiatric disorders; Sleep disorders; Tics; Tourette syndrome