CHICAGO — Children on medicine for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder scored higher on academic tests than their unmedicated peers with the disorder in the first large, long-term study suggesting this kind of benefit from the widely used drugs.
The nationally representative study involved nearly 600 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder followed from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Children’s scores on several standardized math and reading tests taken during those years were examined. Compared with unmedicated kids with ADHD, average scores for medicated kids were almost three points higher in math and more than five points higher in reading, putting them about three months ahead in reading and two months in math.
Both groups had lower scores on average than a separate group of kids without ADHD.
“We’re not trying to say in this study that medication is the only answer,” but the results suggest benefits that shouldn’t be ignored, said Richard Scheffler, the lead author and professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
The researchers agreed that other treatment ADHD children often receive — including behavior therapy and tutoring — can help, but the study didn’t look at those measures.
