The Natural History of Hyperactivity in Childhood and Treatment with Stimulant Medication at Different Ages

[Experimental and clinical pharmacology of psychostimulants]

OBJECTIVE

To examine the fact that, after 50 years, the introduction of amphetamines for therapeutic purposes, psychostimulants such as methylphenidate have proved to be effective medications used in the treatment of childhood hyperactivity, yet misunderstood.

METHOD

A review of the literature is undertaken on the use of psychostimulants in children and adults.

RESULTS

Studies evaluating their helpfulness in adults are for the most part outdated and nonexploratory.

CONCLUSION

their rehabilitation could prove to be useful for young and older adults, on condition that their target syndromes are studied more thoroughly.

Pediatric psychopharmacology

This article is a brief and selected overview of pediatric psychopharmacology, a field which links medicine, behavioural sciences, and neurosciences to child psychiatry. It will summarize current knowledge and recent advances related to the indications, effects, limitations and research issues of psychostimulants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, anticonvulsants and diets used in the treatment of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.

Hyperactivity and frustration: the influence of control over and size of rewards in delaying gratification

This study examined the differential effects of frustration on normal children and those diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity. Each group consisted of 16 boys between the ages of 6 and 8 years who were prematched for age, grade, and classroom placement. All children completed a series of arithmetic problems in order to earn toy rewards. Using a variant of Mischel's (1974) delay-of-gratification paradigm, children were presented with two choice-of-delay conditions in a randomly assigned, counterbalanced sequence: a free-choice conflict situation involving a long-passive or short-active reward delay, and a short-active delay. Results showed that a significantly greater proportion of hyperactive children chose to complete problems for an immediate reward compared to their normal control counterparts (p less than .01). Group differences were no longer apparent in the short-active delay trial. The results are discussed in terms of frustration tolerance and contributing factors such as cognitive-attentional style. Implications for treatment and future directions are delineated.