Development of the Subjective Urge Scale and its usefulness in people with tic disorders

Abstract

The impulsivity of people with tic disorders has been a recent focus of attention. This study aimed to investigate this phenomenon in people with and without tics in a non-clinical setting, focusing on the subjective urge experienced prior to impulsive behavior. In Study 1, we created a scale to measure the strength of subjective urges. This scale, which was found to comprise three subscales, had high internal consistency and high generalizability. In Study 2, using the scale developed in Study 1, we showed that people with tics felt stronger subjective urges than people without tics. This suggests that the relation between tics and impulsivity exists not only among people in clinical settings but also in non-clinical settings. Also, subjective urges significantly affect the severity of depression and this effect was pronounced in people with tics in this study. Thus, we should consider the presence or absence of tics when we discuss impulsivity, in particular the effect of subjective urges on depression.