Are children who take Ritalin for ADHD at greater risk of future drug abuse?
UCLA psychologists have conducted the most comprehensive assessment ever on this question and have found that children with ADHD who take medications such as Ritalin and Adderall are at no greater risk of using alcohol, marijuana, nicotine or cocaine later in life than kids with ADHD who don't take these medications. The psychologists analyzed 15 long-term studies, including data from three studies not yet published. These studies followed more than 2,500 children with ADHD from childhood into adolescence and young adulthood. "We found the children were neither more likely nor less likely to develop alcohol and substance-use disorders as a result of being treated with stimulant medication," said Kathryn Humphreys, a doctoral candidate in UCLA's Department of Psychology and lead author of the study. "We found no association between the use of medication such as Ritalin and future abuse of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and cocaine." The children asses...