Pharmacological Intervention Research for Academic Outcomes for Students with ADHD

Abstract

This study reviews the status and trends of pharmacological intervention research focused on the academic functioning of children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Forty-two studies involving 1,668 participants were included in the review. Results indicated: (1) information on participants is limited; (2) relatively few studies have investigated the effects of psychotropic medications among adolescent populations; (3) the types of medications investigated are limited; (4) dependent measures are often lacking in sophistication (i.e., number of math problems correct); (5) treatments have been limited to short-term interventions; and (6) medication-type interventions resulted in a moderate beneficial effect across academic subject areas for children and adolescents with ADHD.