Demographic profile of respondents of the PTQ.

IntroductionThe Parent Tic Questionnaire (PTQ) is a tool for parents to assess their child’s tic severity, but its effectiveness in non-Western contexts like China has not been thoroughly examined. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PTQ in assessing motor and vocal tic severity among Chinese children diagnosed with tic disorders.MethodParents of 268 Chinese children and adolescents aged 6–17 years, diagnosed with tic disorders, completed the PTQ. The study assessed tic severity using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) and PTQ. Additionally, obsessive-compulsive symptoms were measured using the Children Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), and other behavioral problems were evaluated using the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-48).ResultsThe PTQ showed acceptable to good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.67 for motor, 0.77 for vocal, and 0.79 for total tic scores) and acceptable to good two-week test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations, ICC = 0.74 for motor, 0.81 for vocal, and 0.79 for total tic scores). It demonstrated good convergent validity with the YGTSS and effective discriminant validity from obsessive-compulsive and internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety and psychosomatic). Furthermore, our analysis revealed significant variability in item difficulty across the questionnaire, indicating differences in how various tics are perceived and reported by Chinese parents, which may influence the assessment’s accuracy and reliability.DiscussionThe findings indicate that the Chinese version of the PTQ is a reliable and valid tool for assessing tic severity in Chinese children with tic disorders, offering significant implications for clinical assessment in diverse cultural contexts. Additionally, our findings on item difficulty highlight the need for further cultural adaptations of the PTQ.引言 父母抽动症问卷（Parent Tic Questionnaire, PTQ）是供家长评估子女抽动严重程度的工具，但该工具在包括中国在内的非西方文化语境下的应用效能尚未得到充分检验。本研究旨在评估PTQ用于评定确诊抽动障碍的中国儿童的运动性抽动与发声性抽动严重程度的心理测量学性能。 方法 本研究纳入268名年龄6至17岁、经确诊患有抽动障碍的中国儿童青少年，由其家长完成PTQ问卷。研究采用耶鲁全球抽动严重程度量表（Yale Global Tic Severity Scale, YGTSS）与PTQ共同评估抽动严重程度；此外，使用儿童版耶鲁-布朗强迫量表（Children Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, CY-BOCS）评定强迫症状，并通过康纳斯父母评定量表（Conners’ Parent Rating Scale, CPRS-48）评估其他行为问题。 结果 PTQ展现出良好至优秀的内部一致性：运动性抽动维度克朗巴赫α系数为0.67，发声性抽动维度为0.77，总抽动得分维度为0.79；同时具备可接受至优秀的两周重测信度，组内相关系数（intraclass correlations, ICC）分别为0.74（运动性抽动）、0.81（发声性抽动）与0.79（总抽动得分）。该量表与YGTSS具有良好的会聚效度，对强迫症状与内化性症状（即焦虑与心身症状）具备良好的区分效度。此外，分析结果显示问卷各条目难度存在显著差异，提示中国家长对不同类型抽动的感知与报告存在差异，这可能影响评估的准确性与可靠性。 讨论 本研究结果表明，中文版PTQ是评定中国抽动障碍儿童抽动严重程度的可靠且有效的工具，可为多元文化语境下的临床评估提供重要参考价值。此外，本研究关于条目难度的发现也提示，未来需针对PTQ开展进一步的文化适应性修订。