Study: Young Children Diagnosed with ADHD Often Prescribed Medication Too Quickly (cbsnews.com)
- Reference: 0178951372
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/31/0430224/study-young-children-diagnosed-with-adhd-often-prescribed-medication-too-quickly
- Source link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/young-children-diagnosed-adhd-often-prescribed-medication-too-quickly-study-finds/
> The study, led by Stanford Medicine and [2]published in JAMA Network Open , examined the health records of nearly 10,000 preschool-aged children ages 3 to 5 between 2016 and 2023 who were diagnosed with ADHD... The Stanford study found that about 68% of those children who were diagnosed with ADHD were prescribed medications before age 7, most often stimulants such as Ritalin, which can help children focus their attention and regulate their emotions. The turn to medication often came quickly, according to the study. About 42% of the children who were diagnosed with ADHD were prescribed drugs within 30 days of diagnosis, the study found.
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> "We don't have concerns about the toxicity of the medications for 4- and 5-year-olds, but we do know that there is a high likelihood of treatment failure, because many families decide the side effects outweigh the benefits," Dr. Yair Bannett, assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine and the lead author of the study, [3]said in a statement . Those side effects can include irritability, aggressiveness and emotional problems, according to Bannett. "The high rate of medication prescriptions among preschool-age children with ADHD and the lack of delay between initial diagnosis and prescription require further investigation to assess the appropriateness of early medication treatment," the researchers concluded.
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> The study also found that the vast majority of the young children diagnosed with ADHD, about 76%, were boys.
CBS News interviewed Jamie Howard, senior clinical psychologist from the Child Mind Institute (who was not involved in the study). Howard said when treating ADHD in young children, clinical guidelines call for starting with "behavioral intervention...."
"I think that people have an association with ADHD and stimulant medication... But there is actually a lot more than that. And we want to give kids the opportunity to use these other strategies first, and then if they need medication, it can be incredibly helpful for a lot of kids."
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/young-children-diagnosed-adhd-often-prescribed-medication-too-quickly-study-finds/
[2] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838257
[3] https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/08/adhd-preschoolers.html
Too much money (Score:3)
When watching YouTube short videos, I regularly see ads for adhd services (liven ADHD)
Re: Too much money (Score:2)
I would guess this means the algorithm thinks you have ADHD
Hmm (Score:1)
It's ironic how many people have an unhealthy obsession with being against psychiatric medication, lol
Nobody sits around saying "we prescribe too many heart medications these days! We didn't do that 30 years ago! Big pharma! Pill poppers! And I know; I'm an expert because I have this armchair!"
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
a heart condition is relatively straighforward and safe to diagnose with current tech and knowledge. a behavioral problem not so much.
regarding treatment, one prevalent view in western culture is that there is always a magic pill that will make the problem go away. well, sometimes, a pill is just not what is needed, but there is always a pressure on doctors to provide a quick solution, and there is often too little time to actually weigh the symptoms with enough attention. the problem might be more complex, it may turn out to be something that doesn't really need to be fixed but just managed, or it may be rooted in other causes, like environment or relationships, but the pill will do the trick of calming the kid down, hiding the symproms and keeping the parents happy while those causes remain unadressed, which in the long term may just aggravate the problem, or create new problems where there was none.
big pharma ofc is eager to "help".
Re: (Score:3)
> one prevalent view in western culture is that there is always a magic pill that will make the problem go away
Well what else would you like the doctor to do? You don't think doctors have been telling people and children "eat better, exercise more" but the doctor cant follow you home and make sure you do those things and the doctor cant make sure the parents change their behavior and manner of raising their kids and absent that what options do doctors have? Medicine or surgery, that's about it.
Re: Hmm (Score:2)
This is a common belief, and is rooted in a kernel of truth, but is a dramatic over simplification.
every parent of an ADHD kid I know (including myself) tried behavior modification for a long time before turning to medications. And even when we did, we were slow and deliberate about it with each of our kids.
fact is drugs cost money, and diagnosis costs time and money, and parents would always like to save both of those if possible. I have to take each of my ADHD kids to therapists weekly, and neurologis
Re: (Score:2)
> The idea that OTHERS needing something you donâ(TM)t need is some how an indication of their moral failing, as opposed to how the diversity of human experience manifests.
Wilhoit's law “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Re: (Score:2)
> a dramatic over simplification.
it is a simplification. i'm opining on the internet, not writing a paper. dramatic is this:
> this is rooted in the same fallacies as the anti vax and anti trans rhetoric coming out of this administration, and the anti gay rhetoric of the 90s. The idea that OTHERS needing something you donâ(TM)t need is some how an indication of their moral failing, as opposed to how the diversity of human experience manifests.
woah! i get this is an issue that affects you personally and not to be taken lightly, but i think you are missing the point for several reasons:
first of all, from your description it seems that you arrived at treatment with medication through a long and exhaustive process. that's how it should be, but that places your personal experience outside of the scope of both this paper and my opinion. this is about instances w
Re: (Score:2)
And here you are, continuing to present yourself as an expert while giving bad advice to people about how to treat their children.
What kind of pathology drives a person to that? Are you getting off on the idea of children not getting the kind of medical care they should have available to them?
Re: (Score:2)
ADHD is not just a behavioral problem, and pretending it is can condemn children to a lifetime of being treated like they're stupid misbehaving fuckups.
Bluntly, you should STFU. You do not know what you're talking about, and you're helping people confirm their incorrect beliefs.
Boys (Score:4, Insightful)
> "The study also found that the vast majority of the young children diagnosed with ADHD, about 76%, were boys."
And that is because boys naturally have more problems with sitting still and complying with a boring lecture-style class. This is no secret, and anyone that has raised boys and girls knows this. They need more outlets for physical activity and working with "things" (instead of just listening and occasional communicating), and more discipline, and these are not being met. The system would rather drug them into compliant zombies than admit to and adapt to this reality. And then we wonder why many get even more screwed up later in life.
Re: Boys (Score:3)
Says someone who clearly does not have an ADHD child.
My son with ADHD went on meds because he would run into traffic without thinking and almost got hit by a car in front of my house. The school did not ask us to medicate, because his behavior there was BETTER than at home. His anxiety kept his external ADHD symptoms in check there, but his greater feelings of comfort at home means he expressed those impulses more readily at home. And our home had no shortage of discipline.
my two daughters with ADHD ma
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
> "Says someone who clearly does not have an ADHD child."
That is true. I do not dispute that ADHD is a thing or a problem. But I do believe that it is over-diagnosed and that many kids, especially boys, are caught up in something that can be explained not as a medical/mental problem, but a natural variation in character. And for those, addressed without medications, with some adjustments to their environment, and methods of being caught/handled.
> "my two daughters with ADHD manifest it differently th
It's not so much that boys (Score:2)
Need more physical outlets. It's that the age at which boys settle down and can sit and study is a few years older than one girls can so girls basically get a couple more years of Early education than boys.
Re: (Score:2)
> "It's that the age at which boys settle down and can sit and study is a few years older than one girls can so girls basically get a couple more years of Early education than boys."
Yes, I believe that is also a factor. But girls generally have better communication and attention-to-others skills, regardless of age; both are helpful in classroom settings. I don't think it is just the "headstart" they might have. Boys generally have better spacial and calculative skills. The former isn't generally helpf
Re: (Score:2)
The study was on preschool children. They're not sitting through a "boring lecture-style class" unless it's their parents choosing to do that to them at home.
There's also a racial bias in the data. White kids are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD then minority kids. White kids are also more likely to be given a prescription soon after diagnosis.
This has nothing to do with "the system" beyond the fact that a lot of primary care physicians are very busy and will hand over a prescription without argumen
Re: (Score:2)
> And that is because boys naturally have more problems with sitting still and complying with a boring lecture-style class. This is no secret, and anyone that has raised boys and girls knows this.
Yet even those boys must learn to live in a world where there are other people who have needs that their unacceptable behaviors are interrupting.
Treatment (Score:2)
I'm over 50 with ADHD. I wish someone had helped me sooner.
Re: Treatment (Score:2)
Exactly. We need to take the experience of those who went undiagnosed for years far more seriously than the opinions of those who do not have ADHD.
meds were life changing for my wife, my kids, and my brother.
this anti-medication position is just buildout bigotry against neurodivergent folks wrapped up in a paper thin veneer of lovejoy-esque âoethink of the childrenâ which completely ignores the actual children.
Re: (Score:2)
Mental health and mental health care has come with a stigma and resistance for generations. When my wife had postpartum depression years ago, I had no idea what was going on. I just thought she was angry with me all the time, and that our marriage was falling apart. Thankfully, a marriage counsellor had the insight to tell us that we didn't need a counsellor, we needed a doctor. That led to treatment that transformed our lives. Later, when my son started dealing with major depression, we knew how to get him
This is dumb (Score:4, Interesting)
I have 2 kids with ADHD diagnoses, and a third is likely to if we were to get them tested.
The reason the doctors jump straight to meds is because behavioral modification has failed already. Our oldest was not diagnosed until they were 12. We spent years addressing their symptoms through behavior and only turned to meds when it became clear they surely needed them.
the next one started younger, but was in active therapy for their behavior for 2 years before we went to a neurologist for a diagnosis and drugs. The final straw was we moved, and he started running across the road to play with the new neighbors without looking due to his impulsivity and almost got hit by a car twice in a week. We started with a drug for impulse control first, and only added a stimulant a year later when his inability to focus was causing problems in school.
last one is clearly ADHD, but has not been formally diagnosed and is not on meds because, so far, their symptoms are not manifesting in harmful ways and are being successfully managed by addressing their behavior.
Parents turn to drugs, which cost money every month and time for trips to the doctor, when it is clear behavioral modification, which is free, has failed. This whole write up comes across as though it were written by RFk jr as a prelude to coming after psychological medications the way he has come for vaccines. With a lot of dumb rhetoric, fear mongering, and even worse âoesolutionsâ to the problems these medications address.
Re: (Score:1)
Besides, the best way to confirm an ADHD diagnosis is a test dose of the drugs. If you have ADHD, they help. If you don't, they'll make you worse.
It's not like you can give people methylphenidate with no effects, so I'm not sure what the issue is if the effect is beneficial to the child.
Trying to get through early childhood needing meds you're not given can set you back years in your education and social skills.
Re: This is dumb (Score:2)
Exactly
my brother is just as intelligent as I am, but you would never have believed it to look at his grades in school. He could not focus, could not remember to do or turn in assignments, and was always in trouble for impulsive behavior. He was headed to being a HS drop out.
Then he started medication. He ultimately graduated, and got an MS in engineering. Something he simply could not have done without meds.
Re: (Score:3)
> Besides, the best way to confirm an ADHD diagnosis is a test dose of the drugs. If you have ADHD, they help. If you don't, they'll make you worse.
this is not only not true, not how these medications work and not a way to obtain a proper diagnose, but an extremely irresponsible and reckless suggestion that no sane medical professional would make.
Re: (Score:1)
Jesus! I guess I better report the specialist who treated my kid then. /s
You're an ill-informed idiot.
Re: (Score:2)
> The reason the doctors jump straight to meds is because behavioral modification has failed already.
Maybe you did everything appropriate for someone with ADHD, because you correctly guessed what the problem was. In that case, congratulations! But you are surely in a minority, so in most cases there are most likely changes which should be attempted before medication.
That's how they make money (Score:2)
Put kids (or adults) on meds for indefinite amount of time.
Boys are targeted (Score:2)
I have noticed a troubling trend of labeling any boy with energy as ADHD. Too much work for the teacher? Give him pills to keep him quiet.
Re: (Score:2)
There is no such thing as "too much energy". No one should have so much that they can't control themselves. That's a medical or parental issue.
Re: (Score:2)
Or a neurodevelopmental disorder. Inability to self-regulate the energy one has.
In today's society, kids can't just work it off on the farm like they used to. If you want your kid to succeed, he has to sit in class all day. Chemistry is often the most expediant solution.
A blood test would really help (Score:2)
Most diseases can be diagnosed through some kind of blood test. Send it off to the lab, and you get your answer, and the doctor knows how to treat the illness. ADHD and other psychiatric illnesses, have no such test. Doctors are forced to try to sort through symptoms, often with uncooperative patients, to determine what treatments (medicines or behavioral therapy) might help. There's a lot of trial and error, compounded by a selection of medicines that have a 30-40% success rate.
THE biggest advance we need
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like the exact type of thing the NIH could help research. Too bad we've been gutting all that but these are exactly the type of things Federal funding helps get off the ground.
[1]Can biomarkers be used to diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? [nih.gov]
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10030688/
Overdiagnosed (Score:5, Insightful)
Young Children expected to act as adults in school is completely unrealistic expectation is the root cause of ADHD "epidemic". School day built around in-class instruction and passive sitting around does not work for many children. Fix that with more active play time and a lot of these issues will go away.
Re:Overdiagnosed (Score:5, Informative)
You mean how out of every mass shooting in the past many years, only like, 5 were trans people? While over 3000 were cis males? And over 90% of those were republicans? Statistics and facts must suck for you.
Re: (Score:3)
By the definition used by Gun Violence Archive, there have been around 5000 mass shooters in the last decade in the United States alone. [1]https://www.gunviolencearchive... [gunviolencearchive.org] Even with a much narrower definition used by other sources there has been at least 1000 mass shooters.
[1] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/
Re: (Score:2)
Or, just paying attention to the world: There's a mass shooting every week, and maybe once a year it's a transgender. 1 of 52 is roughly 2%.
Re: (Score:2)
Hispanic drug lords vote Republican?
Interesting data you have there.
Re:Overdiagnosed (Score:5, Insightful)
Yup. I wonder how many of these kids "diagnosed with ADHD" actually have just a case of childhood.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
To paraphrase Buck Russell:
I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously or "regulates their emotions" like a fucking Vulcan. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until those who deliberately choose to ignore what being a child is drag them down and convince them and their parents that they have a behavioural disorder in order to pump them full of mood suppressing ph
Re: (Score:2)
Kids need to learn to control themselves in a way that doesn't affect others though. Also they need to learn too. So if they are running around disrupting class than that's not normal.
Re: (Score:2)
> if they are running around disrupting class than that's not normal.
It's normal enough that almost every class has one or more disrupters.
Perhaps a standard classroom isn't the right environment for these kids.
Take them outside. Let them learn by doing, rather than expecting them to sit still through a lecture.
Then the "normal" kids can learn without the disruptions.
Re: (Score:2)
Normal would be more than half the class being disruptors. One or two males it an anomaly. Also why haven't they been taught to respect people?
Root Cause. (Score:1)
> Young Children expected to act as adults in school is completely unrealistic expectation is the root cause of ADHD "epidemic". School day built around in-class instruction and passive sitting around does not work for many children. Fix that with more active play time and a lot of these issues will go away.
Young Children are expected to act like young children. That’s why we don’t call them adults for almost two decades. Young parents are the adults expected to act like fucking parents and raise their children. Not merely do the bare minimum to watch a feral 1-year old grow into a feral 6-year old terror for the classroom. For many reasons (lack of a father figure being a big one), that has become far more common.
Spare the rod, spoil the child. A rather feminine spoiled society has embraced t
Re: (Score:2)
Wild posts, AC. There's this solid critique of American culture at the start, but by the end you're blaming feminists or saying we need to beat our kids more.
Kinda darkly hilarious, but concerning that people actually think like this.
Re: Overdiagnosed (Score:3)
Ok internet doctor. Then why do most parents keep their kids on the medication over the summer, when they donâ(TM)t have to sit in calls all day?
you are making a broad generalization that is simply untrue. It feels true, but kids who are medicated - in my experience with 3 ADHD kids, and ADHD brother and father - directly contradicts your assertions. Meds are certainly more helpful in school, but they are helpful art home and over the summer as well.
Re: (Score:1)
Do you think your grown children at 25 years old are going to be able to look at the ever-growing costs of that prescription you handcuffed to them when they were a child and think ”Whew, it’s a good thing I’m all grown up now. Now I can quit.”
With brother and father hooked, I’d say the question is rhetorical.
I guess like insulin, you better hope and pray someone doesn’t try and take advantage of that mass addiction for easy profit. Raising the price in America by even
Re: (Score:2)
> ”are going to be able to look at the ever-growing costs of that prescription you handcuffed to them”
Considering in most other nations this isn't really a concern I would hope they ask "why did you elect people who let medication people need become so expensive". ADHD meds are not inherently expensive we just choose to make them that way politically.
Vote for cruelty and vengeance against others and when it turns to you complain about why things are so cruel. That's the real American way
Re: (Score:2)
You do fully realize that "there are too many psychotically medicated kids" and "there are people that genuinely need psychotic medication to obtain normal function" are mutually exclusive ideas, right?
Re: Overdiagnosed (Score:1)
I bet it feels like putting your whole family on amphetamines fixed the problem, but meds do not let your brain adapt and grow. There are strategies and treatments that do not require life long meds.
School isn't fair to help kids (Score:2)
We started doing away with that kind of school in the 80s.
Schools now exist to sort students into groups based on how useful they will be to large corporations and the billionaires that own those corporations.
If your kid can't hack it there's billions of them to replace your kid in society and there's automation and AI to make them increasingly less relevant and necessary.
It's a side effect of having a competitive society instead of a cooperative one. Everybody says they want to do the best for
Re: Overdiagnosed (Score:2)
I liked that form of schooling. I had broad interests and liked school... a bit. Plain theory, taking notes, some exercises... I'd hate it if there would be "engaging" activities. Give me the boring stuff. What is good for some is bad for others. School should suck a bit for everyone.