This study reviews the status and trends of pharmacological intervention research focused on the academic functioning of children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Forty-two studies involving 1,668 participants were included in the review. Results indicated: (1) information on participants is limited; (2) relatively few studies have investigated the effects of psychotropic medications among adolescent populations; (3) the types of medications investigated are limited; (4) dependent measures are often lacking in sophistication (i.e., number of math problems correct); (5) treatments have been limited to short-term interventions; and (6) medication-type interventions resulted in a moderate beneficial effect across academic subject areas for children and adolescents with ADHD.
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