Psychology Commons^™

Investigating Habituation To Premonitory Urges In Behavior Therapy For Tic Disorders, David C. Houghton, Matthew R. Capriotti, Lawrence Scahill, Sabine Wilhelm, Alan L. Peterson, John T. Walkup, John Piacentini, Douglas W. Woods

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Behavior therapy is effective for Persistent Tic Disorders (PTDs), but behavioral processes facilitating tic reduction are not well understood. One process, habituation, is thought to create tic reduction through decreases in premonitory urge severity. The current study tested whether premonitory urges decreased in youth with PTDs (N = 126) and adults with PTDs (N = 122) who participated in parallel randomized clinical trials comparing behavior therapy to psychoeducation and supportive therapy (PST). Trends in premonitory urges, tic severity, and treatment outcome were analyzed according to the predictions of a habituation model, whereby urge severity would be expected to …

Moderators And Predictors Of Response To Behavior Therapy For Tics In Tourette Syndrome, Denis G. Sukhodolsky, Douglas W. Woods, John Piacentini, Sabine Wilhelm, Alan L. Peterson, Lily Katsovich, James Dziura, John T. Walkup, Lawrence Scahill

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To examine moderators and predictors of response to behavior therapy for tics in children and adults with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorders.

Methods: Data from 2 10-week, multisite studies (1 in children and 1 in adults; total n = 248) comparing comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT) to psychoeducation and supportive therapy (PST) were combined for moderator analyses. Participants (177 male, 71 female) had a mean age of 21.5 ± 13.9 years (range 9–69). Demographic and clinical characteristics, baseline tic-suppressing medication, and co-occurring psychiatric disorders were tested as potential moderators for CBIT vs PST or predictors of outcome …

Comparing Fixed-Amount And Progressive-Amount Dro Schedules For Tic Suppression In Youth With Chronic Tic Disorders, Matthew R. Capriotti, Jennifer E. Turkel, Rachel A. Johnson, Flint M. Espil, Douglas W. Woods

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Chronic tic disorders (CTDs) involve motor and/or vocal tics that often cause substantial distress and impairment. Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedules of reinforcement produce robust, but incomplete, reductions in tic frequency in youth with CTDs; however, a more robust reduction may be needed to affect durable clinical change. Standard, fixed‐amount DRO schedules have not commonly yielded such reductions, so we evaluated a novel, progressive‐amount DRO schedule, based on its ability to facilitate sustained abstinence from functionally similar behaviors. Five youth with CTDs were exposed to periods of baseline, fixed‐amount DRO (DRO‐F), and progressive‐amount DRO (DRO‐P). Both DRO schedules …