Does restricting activities because of tics affect emotions and quality of life for adults with Tourette Syndrome?
Community Summary of: Tic Related Activity Restriction as a Predictor of Emotional Functioning and Quality of Life
Authors of the article in Comprehensive Psychiatry: Christine A. Conelea Andrew M. Busch, Mark A. Catanzaroc, and Cathy L. Budmanand
Published online: January 1, 2015
Community summary posted on November, 26, 2025
Word count: 570
Reading grade level: 10
Why does this study matter?
Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a chronic condition that often lasts into adulthood. TS affects the brain and behavior. Studies have looked at issues such as poor quality of life (QoL) for adults with TS. They have helped identify demographic and other factors that affect psychology and poor quality of life. However, behavior connected to positive psychology and quality of life has not been studied well.
Research with youth suggests that some people with TS thrive despite severe tics. Others experience significant negative impact despite mild tics. There are many stories from adults who report good functioning (despite persistent tics) in the media, autobiographical books, and patient-support organization literature. But there are no similar studies with adults.
Knowing what behaviors are associated with positive adaptive functioning in TS is extremely important. Such knowledge could help patients, improve care, and optimize outcomes for adults living with this chronic condition.
The central aim was to explore one behavioral mechanism that may predict emotional functioning and quality of life regardless of tic severity: the extent to which people avoid or lessen participating in valued life activities due to tics.
What happened?
The study used data from the 2011 Tourette Syndrome Impact Survey. This survey was given to a large online community sample of adults with TS and chronic tic disorder (CTD). The authors thought that less restriction on activity would be associated with higher QoL and with worse emotional functioning, regardless of tic severity and other things.
Participants included 509 adults who self-reported on demographics, tic severity, emotional functioning, quality of life, and tic related general and social activity restriction. Certain questions from the survey were used to assess age, household income, and formal psychiatric disorder diagnoses.
Six items from the survey assessed activity restriction. Participants were required to rate the truth of statements on a scale of 0 (“Not at all true”) to 4 (“Very true”). Items included “I don’t try out new things if I’m afraid I will tic,” “I stop doing things that are important to me when I’m having a bad tic day,” and “When I feel depressed or anxious about my tics, I am unable to take care of my responsibilities.”
What did this group learn?
Tic related activity restrictions were significantly correlated with lower quality of life and poorer emotional functioning despite tic severity and demographic variables.
Adults who restrict fewer activities due to tics, regardless of tic severity, experience greater quality of life and better emotional functioning. Adults with chronic tics may benefit from help with more engagement in valued life activities.
Clinicians can provide a clear therapeutic message for affected people and their families: whenever possible, continue to engage in enjoyable or personally meaningful activities rather than avoiding activities because of tics.
What can researchers do next?
Future research could be done to test therapies focused on helping adults with tics engage in pleasant, goal-directed, and personally valued activities. They could do this even if their tics are happening. Studying common behavior patterns among those living well with tics may help us share successful strategies with other people who have tics.
It would be helpful for future studies to more clearly identify how tics themselves can lead to activity restriction. For example, tics could make certain tasks more challenging due to physical, practical, or social barriers. Knowing what the barriers are is a helpful step toward supporting people with tics.
How can you find out more?
Read the full article