Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a disorder that involves at least one vocal tic and two or more motor tics, however associated symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention Deficit Disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) are common. Many children with TS exhibit educational difficulties and one possible explanation may be deficits in executive functioning. The focus of this study was to look at the severity of symptoms often associated with TS (tics, OCS, and ADHD symptoms) and its potential relationship with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) parent form in eleven children diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, ages 8-14. The BRIEF was completed by the parent of the child along with symptom measures evaluating tics, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and attention deficit symptoms. Despite relative low mean scores on the symptom measures and just a few children exhibiting clinically significant scores on the BRIEF indexes, at least half the children exhibited abnormal scores on the working memory, inhibit, and shift subscales on the BRIEF. Varying patterns of relationships were found on the BRIEF subscales for each symptom severity scales. Results suggest that the BRIEF may be useful in determining the specific areas of difficulty in a population with variable symptomatology.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in:

Dina M. Schwam, Tricia Z. King & Daphne Greenberga. Characteristics of Executive Functioning in a Small Sample of Children With Tourette Syndrome. Applied Nuropshychology: Child (online ahead of print 12 December 2014).

Available online at 10.1080/21622965.2014.930686

Embargo Date

7-1-2016

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