Study finds combined pharma + non-pharma treatment most beneficial to help youth with ADHD address long-term academic difficulties

__ Academic difficulties are one of the most important adverse consequences of ADHD, and they frequently contribute to parents’ decision to seek treatment for their child. Whether treatment consistently yields a positive impact on long-term academic success is thus an important issue; however, the answer to this question has been somewhat controversial. A study published recently in the Journal of Attention Disorders represents the most comprehensive effort to date to identify and synthesize research related to this important question. The Study: The authors began by identifying all studies published between 1980 and 2012 that reported long-term academic outcomes for youth with ADHD; this was defined as at least 2 years beyond an initial baseline assessment. All studies included a comparison group — either a normative comparison sample or youth with ADHD who were not treated — or a comparison measure, e.g., a pre-treatment baseline measure of academic achievement to which subsequent achievement could be compared. Two important research questions were addressed: How does untreated ADHD affect academic outcomes over the long-term? How does treatment and specific types of treatment impact long-term academic outcomes? Academic outcomes were categorized as a) achievement test outcomes or b) performance outcomes. a) Achievement test outcomes refer to results of standardized achievement tests and reflect knowledge that children have acquired; b) Performance measure...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning academic academic outcomes academic-performance. ADHD-Treatment combined treatment comorbidities functional outcomes long-term medical non-medical non-ph Source Type: blogs