ADHD-Europe

New AJP Study Finds Delayed Treatment, not Early Treatment, is Linked to Later Substance Abuse

ARLINGTON, Va. (April 1, 2008) – Treatment of children with stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) does not increase the risk of substance abuse later in adolescence and early adulthood.
A new 17-year study of 176 boys, ages 6 to 12, who were treated with the stimulant medication methylphenidate (marketed as Ritalin and other brand names) shows that the risk of substance abuse during late adolescence and into early adulthood is related to the age at which the boys began taking stimulant medications. For the first time, the new study shows that risk of substance abuse was lowest in the group of boys who began stimulant treatment for ADHD at an earlier age.

Specifically, the rate of drug abuse (excluding alcohol dependence or abuse) in those who had started taking methylphenidate early in the disease process (at age 6 or 7) was similar to the rate in a group of healthy comparison subjects. On the other hand, the rate of drug abuse was statistically significantly higher among those who had begun methylphenidate treatment at later ages, between 8 and 12. The new findings are detailed in a report which will be published online April 1, 2008, by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. “Age of Methylphenidate Treatment Initiation in Children With ADHD and Later Substance Abuse: Prospective Follow-Up Into Adulthood” is reported by Salvatore Mannuzza, Ph.D., Rachel G. Klein, Ph.D., Francisco X. Castellanos, M.D., and colleagues at the New York University Child Study Center and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research. The report will be available online under AJP in Advance (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/pap.dtl) and will appear in the May 2008 print edition of the journal.

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