Steinberg, Tamar;
Feldman-Sadeh, Dana;
Apter, Alan;
Bronstein, Yael;
Elfer, Noa;
Carmel, Miri;
Michaelovsky, Elena;
... Benaroya-Milshtein, Noa; + view all
(2025)
Early developmental milestones associated with tics and psychopathological comorbidity: An EMTICS study.
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
10.1007/s00787-025-02807-5.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
s00787-025-02807-5.pdf - Published Version Download (899kB) | Preview |
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic Tic disorders (CTD) including Tourette Syndrome (TS), are associated with psychopathological comorbidities. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other comorbidities have been linked to delays in early developmental milestones. Few studies have investigated the relationship between early developmental milestones, tic severity, and related comorbidities. METHODS: 383 participants aged 3-16 years (76.8%, n = 294 boys) with CTD from the baseline assessment of the European Multicenter Tics in Children Study (EMTICS), were evaluated for: retrospective early developmental milestones (sitting, walking, first words, complete a sentence, bladder and bowel control), tic severity, tic-related functional impairment, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and suspected ASD. Data was collected using gold-standard self and clinician reporting instruments. Analyses included Pearson correlations and logistic regressions. RESULTS: Correlations between the acquisition of developmental milestones and tic severity or impairment were significant with small effect sizes (severity of motor tics and tic impairment were correlated with walking (r = .11), while vocal tics were correlated with first words (r = .12)). Logistic regression revealed that delayed acquisition of first words was significantly associated with ADHD, ODD and suspected ASD (Odds Ratio (ROR): 1-1.13, 1.04-1.22, 1.05-1.21, respectively), while delayed walking acquisition was associated with OCD (ROR: 1.01-1.27). DISCUSSION: This study highlights the association between early developmental milestones and later psychopathological comorbidities in CTD patients. These findings emphasize the need for further research to distinguish between children with only tics and those with tics and psychopathological comorbidities, to improve early detection of individuals at risk.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Early developmental milestones associated with tics and psychopathological comorbidity: An EMTICS study |
| Location: | Germany |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00787-025-02807-5 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-025-02807-5 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Developmental milestones, Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), Tic disorders, Tourette syndrome |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Clinical and Movement Neurosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212460 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
