The familial association of tourette's disorder and ADHD: The impact of OCD symptoms

• Published in: American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics Neuropsychiatric genetics, 2011-07, Vol.156B (5), p.553-560
• Main Authors: O'Rourke, Julia A., Scharf, Jeremiah M., Platko, Jill, Stewart, S. Evelyn, Illmann, Cornelia, Geller, Daniel A., King, Robert A., Leckman, James F., Pauls, David L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADHD; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age of Onset; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - complications; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Data processing; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Disease Susceptibility - psychology; Family - psychology; Humans; Interview, Psychological; Medical genetics; Medical sciences; Nervous system; Neurology; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - complications; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - psychology; OCD; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Tourette Syndrome - complications; Tourette Syndrome - psychology; Tourette's disorder
• ISSN: 1552-4841; 1552-485X; 1552-485X
• DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.31195

Tourette's disorder (TD) frequently co‐occurs with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). While the relationship between TD and OCD suggests that they share etiological factors, the exact relationship between TD and ADHD is less clear. The goal of the current analyses was to understand better the familial relationship between DSM‐IV ADHD and TD. Direct interview diagnostic data from a case–control study of 692 relatives of 75 comorbid TD and ADHD (TD + ADHD), 74 TD without ADHD (TD Only), 41 ADHD without TD (ADHD Only), and 49 control probands were analyzed. Hierarchical loglinear modeling was used to explore association patterns between TD, ADHD, and OCD or sub‐clinical OCD (OCD/OCDsub) diagnoses among the 190 affected probands and their 538 relatives. The presence of OCD or OCDsub diagnosis in a proband was associated with a significantly increased risk of comorbid TD + ADHD in his/her relatives. The finding of an association between TD, ADHD and a proband OCD/OCDsub diagnosis was unexpected. The current results suggest that TD, ADHD, and OCD symptoms have overlapping neurobiology when occurring in families of TD and/or ADHD probands. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.