Parental Psychopathology and Tourette Syndrome/Chronic Tic Disorder in Offspring: A Nationwide Case-Control Study
Leivonen S, Scharf JM, Mathews CA et al. JAACAP March 2017. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.01.009
Children often develop tic disorders, including Tourette Syndrome, during periods of increased stress. This data from a large Finnish cohort (over 1000 children) found that maternal mental health and addiction issues doubled the likelihood of a diagnosis of childhood tic disorders (25% vs 12% in the control group). Paternal health and addiction issues had a weaker effect (p<0.001), although paternal OCD was highly correlated with childhood tic disorders (odds ratio (OR) 6.5)). Maternal personality disorders were more highly correlated with childhood tic disorders (OR 3.1) than mood disorders (OR 2.3), anxiety disorders (OR 2.6), psychotic disorders (OR 2.0) and addiction disorders (OR 1.8).