Stimulant treatment for ADHD not associated with substance use in adolescence, adulthood

Key takeaways:

• Researchers found no association between substance use and current or prior stimulant treatment.
• More years of stimulant treatment was not associated with substance use in adulthood.

Stimulant treatment for ADHD is not associated with substance use in adolescence and early adulthood, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

“This study found no evidence that stimulant treatment was associated with increased or decreased risk for later frequent use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarette smoking or other substances used for adolescents and young adults with childhood ADHD,” Brooke S. G. Molina, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues wrote.

In a study of 547 children initially treated in a randomized clinical trial for ADHD, Molina and colleagues performed a comprehensive analysis of possible associations between stimulant treatment of ADHD and subsequent substance use.

Participants aged 7 to 9 years were recruited between 1994 and 1996 and were comprehensively assessed across demographic, clinical and treatment variables for 16 years.

Molina and colleagues found no association between substance use and current or prior stimulant treatment.

Using marginal structural models to adjust for confounding variables by demographic, clinical and familial factors, the researchers determined that there was no evidence that more years of stimulant treatment was associated with substance use in adulthood.

“These findings do not appear to result from other factors that might drive treatment over time and findings held even after considering opposing age-related trends in stimulant treatment and substance use,” Molina and colleagues wrote.