Emotion regulation and social cognition in adolescents with tic disorders: associations with quality of life.

Abstract

This study examined emotion regulation and social cognition in adolescents with tic disorders and explored their associations with psychosocial quality of life. Sixty adolescents (30 with tic disorders and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls) completed standardized assessments of tic severity, emotion regulation, social cognition, and quality of life. Adolescents with tic disorders demonstrated greater emotion dysregulation, poorer social-cognitive performance, and lower quality of life than controls. Within the tic disorder group, emotion dysregulation emerged as the only independent predictor of psychosocial quality of life, independent of tic severity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbidity, and social cognition measures. Subgroup analyses further indicated that adolescents with comorbid ADHD reported poorer psychosocial functioning, although levels of emotion dysregulation did not differ between those with and without ADHD. Together, these findings highlight emotion dysregulation as a key factor associated with psychosocial functioning in adolescents with tic disorders. Addressing emotion regulation difficulties and co-occurring conditions may be relevant for supporting psychosocial well-being in this population.