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A Review of the Literature Regarding Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Tic Disorders (CTDs): Where Do We Go from Here?

  • Tourette's Syndrome (TS Zeiger, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Chronic tic disorders (CTDs) are characterized by the presence of tics and frequently associated with psychiatric comorbidities. Pharmacotherapy is the most commonly prescribed treatment when tics cause distress. Although effective, medication may not result in the complete elimination of tics and may be accompanied by undesirable side effects. Consequently, there is growing interest in behavioral treatment for tics. Habit reversal training (HRT) is the most widely studied of these approaches and is currently recommended as a first-line treatment in European, Canadian, and American guidelines for the treatment of CTDs. A successor to HRT is manualized comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT). Research on CBIT is still in its infancy. The mechanisms of change, how it compares to pharmacotherapy, and its long-term efficacy remain unclear. This paper critically reviews the available literature on the relative effectiveness of each component of CBIT and offers directions for future research in this important area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Kim R. Edwards

  2. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Matt Specht

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Correspondence to Kim R. Edwards.

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Matt Specht has received funding from the Tourette Association of America for research and speaking engagements.

Kim R. Edwards declares that she has no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with animal subjects performed by any of the authors. This article does contain studies with human subjects performed by one of the authors, M. Specht. He confirms compliance with ethical guidelines (including informed consent) when conducting these studies.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Tourette’s Syndrome

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Edwards, K.R., Specht, M. A Review of the Literature Regarding Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Tic Disorders (CTDs): Where Do We Go from Here?. Curr Dev Disord Rep 3, 222–228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-016-0100-z

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