ABSTRACT
We examined aggressive behavior in 6- to 12-year-old children, including 20 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on stimulant medication, 19 children with ADHD on placebo (n = 19), and 32 controls. Children completed a laboratory provocation task designed to measure hostile, instrumental, reactive, and proactive aggression. Children in the ADHD-placebo group exhibited increased proactive and reactive aggression following high levels of provocation compared to controls. On the last trials, instrumental aggression dissipated for controls and hostile aggression dissipated for children in the ADHD-placebo group. Both instrumental and hostile aggression dissipated for children in the ADHD-medication group.
Subject(s)
Aggression/drug effects , Aggression/psychology , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/drug therapy , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Central Nervous System Stimulants/therapeutic use , Aggression/classification , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Neuropsychological Tests , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Examined social information processing (SIP) in medicated and unmedicated children with ADHD and in controls. Participants were 75 children (56 boys, 19 girls) aged 6-12 years, including 41 children with ADHD and 34 controls. Children were randomized into medication conditions such that 20 children with ADHD participated after receiving placebo and 21 participated after receiving methylphenidate (MPH). Children were shown scenarios depicting peer interactions and asked to interpret each scenario and to generate possible responses to the scenario. Results showed that children with ADHD who received MPH generated more hostile responses to provocation than controls, but children with ADHD on placebo did not. Results also showed that children with ADHD regardless of medication generated more hostile responses to provocation than to peer entry, whereas controls did not. Findings suggest that children with ADHD generate more aggressive responses to provocation than controls and that this may be exacerbated by administration of MPH. Limitations and future directions are discussed.