Personality Profile of Male Adolescents With Tourette Syndrome: A Controlled Study

Laura Balottin, Claudia Selvini, Chiara Luoni, Stefania Mannarini, Matteo Chiappedi, Stefano Seri, Cristiano Termine, Andrea E Cavanna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple tics and commonly associated with behavioral problems, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The presence of specific personality traits has been documented in adult clinical populations with Tourette syndrome but has been underresearched in younger patients. We assessed the personality profiles of 17 male adolescents with Tourette syndrome and 51 age- and gender-matched healthy controls using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent version, along with a standardized psychometric battery. All participants scored within the normal range across all Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent version scales. Patients with Tourette syndrome scored significantly higher than healthy controls on the Obsessiveness Content Scale only (P = .046). Our findings indicate that younger male patients with Tourette syndrome do not report abnormal personality traits and have similar personality profiles to healthy peers, with the exception of obsessionality traits, which are likely to be related to the presence of comorbid obsessive compulsive symptoms rather than tics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)294-9
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of child neurology
Volume31
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2016

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Comorbidity
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Obsessive Behavior
  • Personality
  • Personality Tests
  • Tourette Syndrome/complications

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