Understanding Social Anxiety and Thinking Patterns in Individuals with Tourette syndrome

Posted on 18 February 2026 by Pippa McClounan

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A summary of a research study supported by TA

Introduction

Student Researcher Alice Rhodes, from the University of Sussex conducted a study for further understanding of social anxiety processes in those with TS or a tic disorder.

Research Aims

This research aimed to collect data on five specific cognitive processes associated with social anxiety to comprehensively answer the question of what effect self-focused attention processes have on post-event processing.

Findings

Many people with Tourette’s report that social situations can feel particularly challenging. Tourette syndrome (TS) is often recognised for its motor and vocal tics. However, many people with Tourette’s also experience higher levels of anxiety, particularly in social situations. This study aimed to better understand why this may happen by exploring how certain thinking patterns are linked to social anxiety in people with Tourette’s.

The research focused on several common thought processes. These included:
● Self-focused attention (paying close attention to how you appear to others),
● Anticipatory rumination (worrying before a social situation),
● Post-event processing (replaying conversations afterwards), and
● Intergroup anxiety (feeling anxious when interacting with people from different social groups)

A total of 154 adults took part in an online survey, including 91 individuals who had been diagnosed with Tourette’s or experienced Tourette-like symptoms. Participants completed questionnaires measuring these thinking patterns and their levels of social anxiety.

The results showed that participants with Tourette’s reported significantly higher levels of social anxiety, anticipatory rumination, post-event processing, and intergroup anxiety compared to the control group. Paying close attention to how one appears to others was associated with higher levels of anxiety, but it did not, on its own, mean that a person would replay conversations after a social event. Instead, the study found that Social Anxiety, worrying beforehand about how a situation might unfold, and feeling anxious when interacting with different social groups helped explain why someone might focus strongly on themselves during an interaction and later think about it repeatedly.

Of all the factors examined, anticipatory rumination (worrying before social situations) had the strongest influence on whether someone would later replay and overthink events. This suggests that what happens before a social situation strongly shapes how it is processed afterwards.

These findings are important because they help clarify which thinking patterns may be most useful to target in psychological support. Interventions that focus on reducing excessive worry before events may help decrease distress afterwards. This research reinforces that Tourette’s is not only a neurological condition but can also involve complex emotional and cognitive experiences. By understanding these processes more clearly, support services and therapies can be better tailored to improve the quality of life for people with Tourette’s.

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