Adhd Medication Stimulant Versus Non Stimulant

Children with ADHD who have the best outcomes are those who receive a combination of simultaneous interventions. While ADHD is not caused by poor parenting, or psychological, behavioral, emotional, or educational challenges, treating it successfully includes elements of all those components.

A. The MTA was designed and conducted in the early 1990s, before the extended release formulations of stimulant medications became widely available. The MTA used immediate release methylphenidate (Ritalin), which was administered three times a day. Currently, most children receiving stimulant treatment for ADHD are given a once-a-day dose of medication in the morning. However, this difference in medication administration does not change the study's main conclusions.

Behavior therapy involves reinforcing desired behaviors through rewards and praise and decreasing problem behaviors by setting limits and consequences. For example, one intervention might be that a teacher rewards a child who has ADHD for taking small steps toward raising a hand before talking in class, even if the child still blurts out a comment. The theory is that rewarding the struggle toward change encourages the full new behavior.