The main findings are the same for both sexes, said the study’s first author, Quyen Epstein-Ngo, research assistant professor in gender studies at the University of MI.
Advertisement
It’s always been known that kids with ADHD have a harder time making and keeping friends and are bullied and victimized more.
Cottler, lead author of the first national study examining teens’ and preteens’ prescription stimulant use, published in 2013, said that it must be the behavior of the ADHD infected teens which is not tolerable by other kids.
But parents and kids may also need advice on setting up good sleep habits, Kidwell said. They were five times more likely to be bullied than children with ADHD who did not have a recent prescription. “We’re not quite sure exactly what’s going on there”. Over the course of 4 years, they were inquired about their use of medication such as Adderall or Ritalin, used for treating their attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The researchers did stress the importance of addressing bullying in kids, especially in kids with a few kind of disorder.
Psychologists explained that bullies wanted ADHD drugs because they get high off them.
Finally, Epstein-Ngo notes, “There’s growing concern around stimulant misuse and abuse”. Generally, children with this condition are more likely to injure themselves and also be admitted to the emergency room. Maybe they’re being coerced to share their medications, she reasoned.
Moreover, the results suggest that pediatricians should ask about sleep problems in children who are taking these medications, and consider sleep problems in weighing the potential benefits and adverse effects of stimulants when they prescribe them to children, the researchers said. Teens with the severe form of this attention disorder are often prescribed stimulant medications to calm their inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive behavior. We also know that peer victimization, bullying, in schools is a big issue. About three to five of every 100 children in Australia have ADHD, according to The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and it is known to be much more common in boys than girls.
After analyzing the collected data, Epstein-Ngo and team found that students who take medications to treat ADHD are at an increased risk of being bullied at school.
“It’s too early to assume that the bullying is related to the medication”, Moyal said. However, there are reports of abuse of the medication from children who do not suffer from ADHD.
The authors said their work received support from multiple funding sources, including grants from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Advertisement
As of 2011, 6.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17 (nearly 11 percent) have been diagnosed with ADHD, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
