title: Tic Frequency Decreases during Short-term Psychosocial Stress - An Experimental Study on Children with Tic Disorders.
abstract: It has been suggested that psychosocial stress influences situational fluctuations of tic frequency. However, evidence from experimental studies is lacking. The current study investigated the effects of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-C) on tic frequency in 31 children and adolescents with tic disorders. A relaxation and a concentration situation served as control conditions. Patients were asked either to suppress their tics or to "tic freely." Physiological measures of stress were measured throughout the experiment. The TSST-C elicited a clear stress response with elevated levels of saliva cortisol, increased heart rate, and a larger number of skin conductance responses. During relaxation and concentration, the instruction to suppress tics reduced the number of tics, whereas during stress, the number of tics was low, regardless of the given instruction. Our study suggests that the stress might result in a situational decrease of tic frequency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden , Dresden , Germany.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buse
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden , Dresden , Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Enghardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden , Dresden , Germany.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kirschbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden , Dresden , Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden , Dresden , Germany.
authors.forename: Veit
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Roessner
keywords: Tourette syndrome; Trier Social Stress Test; cortisol; free speech task; heart rate; psychosocial stress; skin conductance; tic disorders