Social adjustment experiences of adolescents with Tourette syndrome

Coping with Tourette's syndrome: a meta-ethnography of individual and family perspectives

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review and meta-ethnography aimed to examine how children, adults and families cope with Tourette's syndrome (TS).

METHODS

A systematic search of four databases was completed in October 2022. Sixteen papers met the inclusion criteria and were synthesised using Noblit and Hare's (1988) meta-ethnographic approach.

RESULTS

Three themes were constructed: redefining the self and social identity, controlling the visible presentation of Tourette's syndrome, and challenging the narrative.

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate that coping involves the need to integrate TS with identity, to exert control over tics and to challenge the misrepresentations of TS in wider society. A supportive environment provided by parents and friends enables individuals to feel proud that they can control their tics, and this allows for the positive integration of TS into identity. Raising awareness at a societal level through educational campaigns is important when aiming to improve coping with a stigmatised condition. Further research is recommended, for example, to understand how common co-occurring conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, impact coping.

Reframing stigma in Tourette syndrome: an updated scoping review

Persistent tic disorders (PTD) such as Tourette's syndrome (TS) are common childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders. Stigmatization of individuals with these disorders remains an ongoing problem. The purpose of this scoping review is to serve as an updated review of the research regarding stigmatization in youth with PTD since the publication of the original systematic review about this topic in 2016. The electronic databases Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched. Of the 4751 initial articles screened after removing duplications, 47 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were examined under the social-ecological stigmatization model, which helps categorize stigmatization into individual, interpersonal, community, and structural levels and serves as a broader definition of stigmatization than the previous systematic review. On the individual level, youth with PTD had lower self-esteem than peers, often leading to fear of future stigmatization, avoidant behaviors, and self-stigmatization. They also experienced higher rates of bullying and other forms of abuse than peers at the interpersonal level. At the community level, youth with PTD faced discriminatory environments in school and work and limited availability of community services and healthcare access. At the structural level, knowledge about PTD was limited in the general population, often about the limited portrayals of PTD in the media. We hope that the broader scope of this review serves to help inform future efforts to decrease the stigmatization faced by this group.

Psychosocial experiences in youth with Tourette syndrome: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

Suffering from Tourette syndrome (TS) disrupts the daily lives and interpersonal relationships of patients. The psychosocial experiences of young people with TS are not yet clear. The aim of the systematic review is to identify and synthesize the psychosocial experiences of young people with TS. A meta-synthesis was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, and Chinese Electronic Periodical Services databases were searched for articles published from their inception to February 2023. This review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute's Guidelines for Systematic Reviews according to a previously developed protocol. We used the confidence of synthesized qualitative findings (ConQual) approach to evaluate the credibility and dependability of the synthesized findings. This review included 12 qualitative studies from Western and Asian countries published between 2005 and 2019, representing 190 young people with TS. We identified five synthesized findings: affliction by intractable TS, TS was negatively perceived in the social and cultural context, self-adjustment in response to social interaction, response to receiving various interventions, and positivity in promoting self-acceptance. The ConQual grade for each generated synthesized finding ranged from low to moderate. The psychosocial experiences of youths living with TS are unique and are influenced by their interpersonal relationships, social context, and cultural framework. The findings recommend that healthcare providers assist young people in developing personalized symptom management strategies and provide guidance and care that meets the needs of each individual.

How does Tourette syndrome impact adolescents' daily living? A text mining study

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disease in which clinical manifestations are essentially present during childhood and adolescence, corresponding to one of the critical development phases. However, its consequences on the daily lives of young patients have been insufficiently investigated. Here, we aimed to investigate this using a statistical text mining approach, allowing for the analysis of a large volume of free textual data. Sixty-two adolescents with Tourette syndrome participated in an interview in which they discussed their daily life (i) in school, (ii) at home, and (iii) with strangers, (iv) the aspect of Tourette syndrome which caused the most difficulty, and (v) their thoughts regarding their future as adults. Following data pre-processing, these corpora were analyzed separately using the IRAMUTEQ software through factorial correspondence analysis to identify the most commonly recurring topics of each corpus, and their relations with clinical features. The main difficulty corpus was directly related to comorbidities of Tourette syndrome. Daily life at home was correlated with executive functioning. Difficulties at school were related to a higher severity of tics. Thoughts regarding future daily life were worst for the youngest patients and were correlated with executive functioning and a higher depression score. Taken altogether, our results highlighted that social stigma was a pervasive topic among our corpora. From a clinical standpoint, tic severity was especially related to difficulties at school, while comorbidities had a high impact on social daily living and cost for managing both tics and symptoms of comorbidities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04179435.

How do children with Tourette's syndrome and their caregivers live with the disorder? A systematic review of qualitative evidence

Background

Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by sudden, repetitive, involuntary, and irregular muscle movement and vocalization. Recently, non-pharmaceutical methods, such as behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, and deep brain stimulation, have been introduced as alternatives to pharmacological treatment for TS. This study aimed to systematically review and synthesize qualitative evidence on the experiences of children with TS and their caregivers. A meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence could help provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges experienced by children with TS and their caregivers with the aim of providing more effective treatment and services for them.

Materials and methods

A systematic search was conducted using MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycARTICLES, and three Korean databases (Korean Medical Database, Research Information Sharing Service, and ScienceON) in July 2021. Studies were included if they collected and analyzed qualitative data from children with tic disorder or TS, or their caregivers. Qualitative research findings on the experiences and perspectives of children with TS and their caregivers were critically appraised and synthesized using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology.

Results

Eight eligible studies were included. The findings from these studies (i.e., themes or subthemes of qualitative research) were aggregated into categories (a group of similar findings) and synthesized findings (a group of categorized findings). Ultimately, the 60 findings were aggregated into 15 categories. Finally, four synthesized findings were derived from the 15 categories: (i) continuation of challenging daily life, (ii) denying that TS causes emotional distress, (iii) accepting and understanding TS as part of oneself, and (iv) looking to the future.

Conclusion

Children with TS and their caregivers experience physical and psychological distress and social deprivation. Avoiding and suppressing TS causes secondary distress such as guilt. However, seeking social support and accepting the disorder reduce the distress caused by symptoms and lays the foundation for later growth. Even in the face of adversity, children with TS and their caregivers find personal value and acquire a more open and optimistic attitude toward life. This review shows that acceptance-based therapy and social support should be provided for the treatment and management of TS.

Psychosocial stress, self-esteem, and social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis in Taiwanese adolescents with Tourette syndrome

PURPOSE

Recent studies have shown that tics and related comorbidities can cause poorer social adjustment, lower self-esteem, and higher psychosocial stress among adolescents with Tourette syndrome. This study explored the role of self-esteem in mediating the relationship between psychosocial stress and social adjustment among adolescents with Tourette syndrome, and the role of comorbidities in moderating the relationship between self-esteem and social adjustment.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 118 Taiwanese adolescents with Tourette syndrome aged between 12 and 20 years old were recruited via convenience sampling. Their demographic information, Yale Global Tic Severity Scale, stress index for children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome, social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome, and Self-Esteem Scale results were collected. Moderated mediation analysis of the study data was performed with the Hayes's PROCESS macro.

RESULTS

Our results revealed that the self-esteem of adolescents with Tourette syndrome fully mediates the relationship between their psychosocial stress and social adjustment (B = -0.0703, 95% CI, [-0.0176, -0.001]), while comorbidities moderates the relationship between their self-esteem and social adjustment (B = -0.8416, 95% CI, [-1.4529, -0.2302]). The relationship between self-esteem and social adjustment was more pronounced in adolescents without comorbidities than those with comorbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychosocial stress correlates negatively with social adjustment and self-esteem, and indirectly influences social adjustment through self-esteem, while comorbidities (particularly their absence) moderates the relationship between self-esteem and social adjustment.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Different self-esteem strengthening programs to enhance social adjustment for adolescents with Tourette syndrome may be developed in future studies.

Living with tics: Nursing Care of Pediatric Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental movement characterized by abrupt, rapid, repetitive, and non-rhythmic tics. While TS is not life-threatening, such tics and comorbidities affect a children's physical and mental health and social interactions. Treatment is necessary when the children experience physical discomfort, functional dysfunction, and poor interpersonal interaction and mental health. Common management strategies for TS include psychological interventions and pharmacological treatment. Additionally, it is important to consider the individual needs of youths with TS and reassess the treatment outcomes and the need to receive continuous treatment regularly. This review summarizes the symptom management and nursing care measures for youths with TS. Understanding and listening to the healthcare problems of youths with TS can help providers develop healthcare interventions tailored to the youths' needs. Providing the youths with strategies to reduce the tics' interference with their learning outcomes and helping them develop strategies to cope with diverse interpersonal interactions at school are also important. Further, enhancing acceptance given by parents, teachers, and peers, as well as improving the general public's understanding of TS are important measures that promote the youths' social adjustment as well as their ability to coexist with TS.

Using Online Support Communities for Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders: Online Survey of Users' Experiences

Background

People living with a tic disorder (TD)—such as Tourette syndrome (TS)—experience many negative psychological and social challenges arising from chronic tics, such as stigmatization from peers and poorer quality of life, and these can impact upon their families too. It can be difficult for this population to access face-to-face support for tics, and so online support communities offer one avenue for support from peers facing similar experiences. However, little is known about how online support communities may be used by people with TS and other TDs, and by others (eg, parents, caregivers) supporting a person with TS/TD.

Objective

This study aimed to explore users’ experiences of participation in online support communities for TS and TDs.

Methods

In total, 90 respondents (aged 13-62 years; 62% [56/90] female) from 13 countries completed an online survey exploring their experiences of using online support communities for TS and TDs. Respondents were people living with TS/TD themselves (n=68) or supportive others of someone with TS/TD (eg, parent, sibling, spouse; n=14), or both (n=8). The online survey contained open-ended questions eliciting their self-reported motivations for using online communities, their benefits and drawbacks of participation, and whether online support communities affected offline management of tics. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

Seven overarching themes captured experiences of using online support communities for TS/TDs. The overwhelming reason for their use was to find accessible support due to a lack of offline face-to-face support. Online support communities were valued sources of informational and emotional support, and also had a positive impact upon helping users’ psychological well-being. Online communities helped provide a space where people with TS/TDs could feel accepted and reduce the social isolation they felt offline. The suggestible nature of tics and being reminded of the challenging nature of TDs were main disadvantages arising from using online support communities, alongside conflict arising within online communities.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that online support communities appear to offer valuable informational and emotional support to those living with TS/TD and their families too, especially given the lack of locally available support. This facilitates a sense of community online, which can help users in overcoming long-standing social isolation and aid self-reported improvements in psychosocial well-being. Users reported some drawbacks in engaging with online support communities, such as conflict between different types of users and triggering content, which negatively affected experiences of community participation.

Investigating Gait, Movement, and Coordination in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Is There a Role for Motor Abnormalities in Atypical Neurodevelopment?

Motor abnormalities have been suggested to play a role in most neuropsychiatric disorders, as a potential generic neurodevelopmental vulnerability. However, they still represent a neglected area, with a paucity of empirical studies, especially in pediatric populations. This case-control study aimed to comprehensively assess motor functioning in children with atypical neurodevelopment and investigate whether any socio-demographic or clinical characteristics would concur with motor difficulties to distinguish children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) from healthy controls. Socio-demographic (age and gender) and clinical (intelligence quotient, gait, movement, and coordination) data were collected on 114 children aged 5-15 (83 with NDD, 31 healthy controls). Male children were at significantly higher risk for NDD (OR: 13.023, p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant interaction between the total intelligence quotient and overall coordination such that increasing levels of total intelligence quotient appeared to protect against the likelihood of being diagnosed with an NDD, but only in the context of a preserved coordination (OR: 0.964, p = 0.038). Collectively, results may have important public health implications, as they point towards the development of new approaches to establish an early prognosis in neurodevelopment, including assessing motor difficulties and mitigating their impact on children's quality of life.

Development and Validation of the Social Adjustment Scale for Adolescents with Tourette Syndrome in Taiwan

PURPOSE

The aim of this study developed the psychometric properties of the social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome (SASATS).

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was conducted. 346 adolescents with Tourette syndrome (TS) were purposively sampled from pediatric outpatient departments at two hospitals in Taiwan. The scale was developed through a phenomenological study of adolescents with TS and by reviewing the literature. The reliability analysis of the SASATS was performed using the corrected item-total correlations coefficients, Cronbach alpha coefficients, and test-retest correlations. An exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to examine the construct validity.

RESULTS

The content validity index of 0.89 was obtained, and acceptable model fit was achieved according to the explanatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The final scale had 17- items and four factors: relationship between self and TS, academic performance, family relationship, and peer interaction. Acceptable values of 0.81 and 0.87 were obtained for the test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The SASATS is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating social adjustment status in TS adolescents.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The SASATS is easy to use and offers an effective scale for nurses and healthcare providers in clinical and academic settings. It can quickly measure and detect the psychological functioning of the social adjustment of adolescents with TS during interpersonal interactions. Moreover, interventions can be provided to improve adolescents' social adjustment and promote their mental health.