ADHD treatment not tied to substance abuse

Treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appears to diminish the likelihood of smoking and of alcohol and drug use among teens. There has been a concern that treating ADHD with stimulants might predispose kids to substance abuse as they get older. To study the validity of this concern, researchers from America followed 114 children who had ADHD for 5 years. The average age of the participants at follow-up was 16 years. Ninety-four of them had been treated with stimulants. It was found that there was no more cigarette smoking or substance abuse among the children treated with stimulants than those who had not been treated with the drugs. In fact, stimulant treatment was associated with a significant reduction of about 75 percent in the risk of cigarette smoking and development of any substance abuse disorder. The above findings should reassure clinicians and parents that stimulant medications do not increase the risk for cigarette smoking and/or substance abuse among kids, but in fact appear to decrease the risk through adolescence.

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