Study Results Link Non-Stimulant ADHD Therapy and Prescription Stimulant Misuse in Adolescents

Non-stimulant therapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to higher prescription stimulant misuse in adolescence, according to study results presented in a poster at the 2023 American Psychiatric Association annual meeting. The challenges posed by ADHD, such as psychosocial effects like bullying and comorbidities like conduct disorder, could potentially contribute to prescription stimulant misuse, findings suggest.

Researchers urged clinicians to “monitor youth prescribed non-stimulant therapy for ADHD for potential prescription stimulant misuse during adolescence.”

Using data from 16 annual surveys conducted between 2005 and 2020 that encompassed nationally representative samples of 10th and 12th grade students in the US (n=150,395), researchers completed logistic regression analyses to examine the relationship between the age of onset and duration of stimulant medication therapy for ADHD and the misuse of prescription stimulants.

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Approximately 11.5% of youth had received either stimulant or non-stimulant therapy for ADHD at some point in their lives. Notably, 3.3% of those had exclusively undergone non-stimulant therapy, and 1 in 10 youth reported prescription stimulant misuse in the past year, indicating a prevalence of 10.4%.

Adolescents who exclusively underwent non-stimulant therapy for ADHD exhibited significantly higher odds of prescription stimulant misuse compared to the general population controls (AOR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.67 - 2.17). However, there were no discernible differences in the likelihood of prescription stimulant misuse between individuals receiving non-stimulant therapy and those who initiated stimulant therapy at an early age for an extended period (AOR = 1.21; 95% CI = 0.91 - 1.62).

This research highlights the need for future research that “accounts for these factors as well as ADHD severity, ADHD phenotype, non-stimulant therapy onset/duration, and specific non-stimulant medication,” authors concluded.

Reference

Wener K, Wilens T, McCabe SE, McCabe V, Schulenberg. Non-stimulant therapy for ADHD is associated with prescription stimulant misuse during adolescence. Poster presented at: American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting. May 20-24, 2023.