From 2008 to 2011, approximately 78% to 79% of children receiving Medicaid and clinical care for ADHD received at least one prescription for ADHD medication and approximately 51% to 53% had at least one claim for psychological services.
Advertisement
CDC researchers recommend behavioral modification therapy as treatment for ADHD in children between 2 and 5 years of age.
Georgina Peacock, director of the CDC’s human development and disability division, said that experts recommend parent- or teacher-led behavior therapy for children with ADHD at this age as opposed to therapies like Applied Behavior Analysis, which focuses on the child and is considered by some to be the gold standard for treating children on the autism spectrum. “Behavior therapy has been shown to help improve symptoms in young children with ADHD and can be as effective as medicine, but without the side effects”, Schuchat said. The United States is somewhat of an anomaly because its recommendations allow for medication as a first-line treatment for children with ADHD ages 6 to 18; many other countries recommend trying a mix of lifestyle changes, counseling and behavior therapy before moving on to drugs.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s Principal Deputy Director, told CBS News that behavior therapy is an important first step for young children with ADHD and the best results happen when parents themselves are trained to provide it. We asked Dr. Pelham for five things every parent needs to know about ADHD.
“It’s like having your own personal coach for dealing with challenging behaviors”, she said. And the long-term effects of ADHD drugs on young children are not known. “There’s a host of research that was done to suggest that behavioral interventions are really effective for remediating a lot of problems, and, I think, really serve as a good front-line intervention for most kids with behavioral difficulties”. They learn how to praise their children when they do something right and how to set up and follow routines. Those skills can translate to better skills and behavior at school and in relationships outside the family, too. Only 54% of children with Medicaid and 45% of those with employer insurance received any type of psychological services, which might have included parent training.
In behavior therapy, therapists help parents build skills in guiding their child’s behavior. And responding to the child’s behavior the same way each time fosters faster learning.
“One of kind of our bread-and-butter services is addressing issues of compliance, issues of distractibility and attention, so that is something that we do quite a bit here”, he said.
Advertisement
The Centers for Disease Control now say more kids with ADHD could benefit from therapy. While states oversee the expansion of services available to children with ADHD, Schuchat added, physicians should stress to parents the desirability of getting such help for their children with ADHD.
