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Behavioral Intervention Controls Tics in Children With Tourette Syndrome

A comprehensive behavioral therapy is effective in helping children with Tourette Syndrome manage their tics, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medication Association. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health and involved several leading universities working in partnership with the national Tourette Syndrome Association.

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurological disorder that affects approximately 200,000 school-aged children and adults in the United States. Characterized by involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics, TS symptoms can range from mild to severe and can have a profound negative impact on the lives of individuals with the condition. Current medications for TS are associated with troubling side effects, such as weight gain and sedation, and in many cases drugs do not adequately reduce the severity or frequency of tics. Behavioral therapy has the potential to manage tics without the shortcomings associated with existing medications, but only a few studies have examined the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in people with TS.

John Piacentini, PhD, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and lead author, and colleagues compared the effectiveness of a Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) in 61 children with TS (aged 9 to 17) against a control group of patients that received supportive therapy and basic education about their disorder. The CBIT therapy was based on habit reversal training that includes two concepts: tic awareness and competing-response training. Tic-awareness training teaches the child how to monitor themselves for early indications (including the urge) that a tic is about to occur. Competing-response training teaches the child how to engage in a voluntary behavior designed to be physically incompatible with the impending tic, thereby disrupting the cycle and decreasing the tic. CBIT also includes a parent management component. Parents in the study were taught how to manage their own and others reactions to their children's tics, and how to best encourage and praise their children for practicing the behavioral intervention techniques they were learning.

The CBIT and control group of TS subjects received eight sessions of therapy over a 10-week period. Those who responded to therapy received monthly booster sessions for three months, and were assessed three months and six months after the 10-week acute treatment ended.

The results of the study showed that 52.5% of the children who received CBIT showed significant symptom improvement compared to 18.5% receiving the control treatment. The benefits of CBIT also appeared to endure over time 87% of CBIT responders who were reassessed six months after the end of the 10-week trial continued to show benefit. Only a few children dropped out of the study, suggesting that the intervention was well-received and tolerated by the children and their parents.

Piacentini notes that, "the response to CBIT was comparable to results of trials with antipsychotic medications for TS, but without any of the side effects associated with the use of these medications." Interestingly, the researchers found that 38% of children in the study were already taking medication for their disorder when they entered the study and were allowed to remain on the medication. Therefore, behavioral therapy could be used alone or in combination with medications to manage the symptoms of TS.

— Source: Tourette Syndrome Association