Part II of the European clinical guidelines for Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders (ECAP journal, 2011) provides updated information and recommendations for psychological interventions for individuals with tic disorders, created by a working group of the European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome (ESSTS). A systematic literature search was conducted to obtain original studies of psychological interventions for tic disorders, published since the initial European clinical guidelines were issued. Relevant studies were identified using computerized searches of the MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases for the years 2011–2019 and a manual search for the years 2019–2021. Based on clinical consensus, psychoeducation is recommended as an initial intervention regardless of symptom severity. According to a systematic literature search, most evidence was found for Habit Reversal Training (HRT), primarily the expanded package Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT). Evidence was also found for Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), but to a lesser degree of certainty than HRT/CBIT due to fewer studies. Currently, cognitive interventions and third-wave interventions are not recommended as stand-alone treatments for tic disorders. Several novel treatment delivery formats are currently being evaluated, of which videoconference delivery of HRT/CBIT has the most evidence to date. To summarize, when psychoeducation alone is insufficient, both HRT/CBIT and ERP are recommended as first-line interventions for tic disorders. As part of the development of the clinical guidelines, a survey is reported from ESSTS members and other tic disorder experts on preference, use and availability of psychological interventions for tic disorders.

The present study investigates treatment satisfaction (TS) rated by multiple informants (patient, parent, therapist) following routine outpatient cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) within a large sample (n = 965) of clinically referred adolescents aged 11-20 years. Moreover, potential predictors of TS were analyzed (patient-related variables, mental disorder characteristics, socio-demographic factors and treatment variables). Overall, our results show a high treatment satisfaction in patient, parent and therapist ratings, with the therapists being the most critical raters (completely/predominantly satisfied: 87.8% in patient, 92.0% in parent, and 64.0% in therapist ratings). Correlations between the three raters were only small to moderate, but statistically significant. Regression analysis examining differential effects found that mental disorder characteristics (parent- and patient-reported symptoms at post) and treatment variables (especially cooperation of patients and parents as rated by therapists) explained most of the variance in TS, whereas patient-related or socio-demographic variables did not emerge as relevant predictors of TS. The amounts of explained variance were R = 0.594 in therapist rating, R = 0.322 in patient rating and R = 0.203 in parent rating.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for health care systems around the world. Teletherapy (psychotherapy conducted via videoconference) for children and adolescents offers a promising opportunity not only to provide treatment during social distancing restrictions but also to reduce treatment barriers that might prevent families from seeking care independent of the pandemic. Therefore, it is highly important to examine the implementation and especially the acceptance of and satisfaction with teletherapy. Methods Therapists of 561 patients and parents of 227 patients (total 643 patients) aged 3–20 years treated at a university outpatient unit rated their experiences with teletherapy. Results Following the outbreak of COVID-19, 73% of the patients switched from face-to-face treatment to teletherapy. Both therapists and parents were mainly satisfied with teletherapy and did not report negative impacts on treatment satisfaction or the therapeutic relationship. Stress from COVID-19, age, gender, duration of treatment, psychosocial functioning, and psychopathology were associated with satisfaction, but correlations were low. Sixty-six percent of parents and 53% of therapists intended to use teletherapy in the future. Conclusions Teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic was well accepted by both parents and therapists. Certain patient characteristics were related to satisfaction. Trial registration The study was retrospectively registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00028639).

The aim of this study is to evaluate a cognitive-behavioral treatment for children and adolescents with tic disorder including habit reversal training (HRT) in a sample of children and adolescents ( n = 27). Multiple outcome measures were used to assess the effects of the treatment on tic symptoms. In addition, impairment/subjective burden ratings and the self-efficacy to control tics were assessed. A within-subject design with two phases (8 weeks diagnostic; 16 sessions treatment) was analyzed using multilevel modeling (MLM). During the treatment phase, significant improvements in tic symptoms, impairment, and self-efficacy to control tics were found on most outcome measures. Treatment effects were found on the clinical rating of tic symptoms ( Yale Global Tic Severity Scale [YGTSS]), the self-efficacy to control tics, and the video-observed motor tic frequency by comparing the improvements during treatment with the course of the outcome measures during the preceding diagnostic phase.