Psychosocial Treatment to Improve Resilience and Reduce Impairment in Youth With Tics: An Intervention Case Series of Eight Youth

Background: Many youth with tic disorders experience distress about having tics and how others may perceive them. Such symptoms are often more impairing and distressing than the tics themselves and negatively impact self-concept, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life. Objective: Although there exist pharmacological and behavioral treatments that target the frequency and severity of tics, no intervention has been developed specifically to help youth with tics cope with their condition and limit associated functional impairment and distress. With this in mind, we report an intervention case series of eight youth (ages 8–16 years) supporting the initial efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral therapy program entitled “Living with Tics” that promotes coping and resiliency among youth with tics. Method: Eight youth with a principal diagnosis of a tic disorder (i.e., Tourette syndrome [N = 6]; Chronic Tic Disorder [N = 2]) and associated psychosocial impairment participated. Assessments were conducted at screening, pretreatment, and posttreatment by trained raters. Treatment consisted of 10 weekly individual psychotherapy session focused on improving coping with having tics. Results: Six of eight youth were considered treatment responders. On average, participants exhibited meaningful reductions in tic-related impairment, anxiety, and overall tic severity as well as improvements in self-concept and quality of life. Conclusions: These data provide preliminary evidence for conducting a larger controlled trial to examine the utility of the Living with Tics psychosocial intervention for promoting adaptive functioning among youth with tics.