Tics and Tourette Syndrome

Abstract

Tics are one of the most common behavioral problems of childhood; by some estimates, 12–24% of all children exhibit tics at one time or another (Shapiro, Shapiro, Brunn, & Sweet, 1978). Most tics are transient, disappearing spontaneously within a few weeks or months. Other tics are chronic and persist for years, even for life. Occasionally, motor tics are accompanied by “vocal” or “phonic” tics—sniffing, snorting, grunting, or swearing—to produce the condition called Tourette syndrome (Golden, 1979). Whether these tic conditions are different disorders or represent a continuum of the same disorder is unknown. What is known is that there is a relatively high incidence of tic disorders in the families of children who present with these problems. In an early study, Lapouse and Monk (1964) reported that 38% of parents of children with transient tics had a history of tics themselves; more recently, Golden (1979) indicated that 31% of the families of Tourette children had another member with Tourette syndrome, while 20% of the families had at least one other member of the family with chronic multiple tics. Similarly, Shapiro and Shapiro (1982) reported the rate of tics and Tourette syndrome to be 40.5% in the families of their sample of 650 Tourette children. Clearly, these familial rates exceed prevalence rates found in the general population, which are usually estimated to be 0.5 per 1,000 for Tourette syndrome and 1 per 100 for chronic multiple tics.