Name
Family Matters: Connections in Tics, OCD, and ADHD 
Date & Time
Friday, June 12, 2026
Sara Nutley, Ph.D., MS
Description

This presentation characterizes the familial links between chronic tic disorders, OCD, and ADHD, drawing on findings from an investigation of familial aggregation patterns in first-degree relatives of children with chronic tics (N=1,153) or OCD (N=344). Findings indicate elevated parental prevalence across disorders, where nearly three in four children with chronic tics or OCD have at least one parent affected by tics, OCD, or ADHD. We examine parental prevalence of individual and complex phenotypes relative to sex-specific population rates, highlighting differences in familial aggregation patterns between children with chronic tics and those with OCD, and demonstrating that children with both disorders (OCD + chronic tics) have family profiles that more closely resemble the profile of children with chronic tics, rather than children with OCD. Finally, we assess variation in familial clustering according to characteristics of the affected child, providing evidence that male and female children exhibit similar patterns of familial risk. 

Description
Sara Nutley is a computational epidemiologist dedicated to using data-driven approaches to advance understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders. Her research leverages advanced statistical and machine learning approaches to examine the distribution, determinants, and longitudinal course of obsessive–compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). She is particularly interested in characterizing within-disorder heterogeneity and its etiologic and longitudinal correlates, as well as delineating phenotypic overlap between OCRDs and other neuropsychiatric conditions. Sara recently earned her PhD in Epidemiology and MS in Biostatistics from The University of Florida, and she currently serves as a Postdoctoral Associate to Dr. Carol Mathews in the University of Florida Department of Psychiatry.