Do tics impact life functioning for kids?
Community Summary of: Exploring the Impact of Chronic Tic Disorders on Youth: Results from the Tourette Syndrome Impact Survey
Authors of the article in the Journal of Child Psychiatry and Human Development: Christine A. Conelea, Douglas W. Woods, Samuel H. Zinner, Cathy Budman, Tanya Murphy, Lawrence D. Scahill, Scott N. Compton, and John Walkup
Published online: April 2011
Community summary posted on October 8th, 2026
Word count: 703
Reading grade level: 10
Why does this matter?
Some earlier research has shown that chronic tic disorders (CTD) like Tourette Syndrome (TS) affect peoples’ life functioning. This means that tics might cause problems physically, socially, academically, psychologically, and within the family. However, not much is known about these issues for children.
These earlier studies had limitations and problems. For example, they might have relied on parents or caregivers reporting for their children. Some studies grouped children and adults together. Some focused on people looking for treatment rather than on everyone.
Also, not enough is known about how co-occurring conditions affect functioning, like ADHD and OCD. Some research compared youth with TS and ADHD to those with only TS. It found that those with both TS and ADHD had more behavior problems, more social life challenges, and lower quality of life.
We need to know more about the relationship between functional impairment and tic severity. Some research has shown links between tic severity and functional impairment. Other research hasn’t shown a significant relationship.
To get more people involved, the authors did an Internet survey. They connected directly with children (as well as their parents). They tried to learn more about the functional impact of tics among youth in a large, ‘‘virtual’’ community sample.
What happened?
The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A link to the survey was posted on the home page of the national Tourette Syndrome Association (now the Tourette Association of America or TAA). Recruitment emails directing people to the survey were sent by the TSA to members. A study announcement was placed in their newsletter.
The Internet survey was completed by families with children who had CTD. Seven hundred forty parents and 232 of their children (ages 10–17 years) participated. The survey asked about five areas of life: physical, social, familial, academic, and psychological. It also asked about quality of life and discrimination resulting from tics. The researchers looked at overall data for everyone in the survey and also separately based on whether the respondents had CTD only (CTD-Only group) or a co-occurring condition (CTD-Plus).
What did the authors learn?
Youth with CTD experience mild to moderate functional impairment as a result of tics. Increased impairment is generally associated with increased tic severity. Those with an additional co-occurring condition(s) tend to have more functional impairment. A notable portion of youth with CTD experience discrimination due to tics. This includes experiences like bullying. Anxiety, depression, family functioning difficulties, and quality of life dissatisfaction are greater in those with CTD as compared to the general population. But, this number is roughly equal to what is reported in other psychiatric populations. Co-occurring psychiatric conditions increase the likelihood of experiencing functional impairment and discrimination, avoiding activities, and lower quality of life.
The majority of respondents reported that their child had at least one tic that caused pain or physical damage. Parents in the CTD-Plus group were 1.8 times more likely than parents in the CTD-Only group to describe this experience.
In the parent sample, parents reported that tics moderately interfered with their child’s social functioning in the past 12 months. Compared to parents in the CTD-Only group, the CTD-Plus group reported that their children experienced more problems with social lives, family relationships, friendships, leisure, and completing household tasks. They reported a greater tendency to avoid vacation, social events, public places, and group activities. However, parents in both groups reported some avoidance due to tics.
The child sample reported mild to moderate interference with social functioning in the past 12 months. Links were found between tic severity and all social interference items. The CTD-Plus group reported significantly more problems than the CTD-Only group for social lives, family relationships, and friendships.
In contrast to parent data, there was no difference between the youth groups for leisure activities or completion of household tasks.
What does this mean for treatment and future research?
The findings show that many children with tics experience challenges functioning in their daily life. These challenges can be greater for those who also have co-occurring conditions. Future research efforts may need to focus on how clinicians, families, and advocacy groups can improve the functioning of youth affected by CTD.