FRIDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Childhood treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with psychostimulants has no effect on the risk of substance use, abuse, or dependence later in life, according to a meta-analysis published online May 29 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Kathryn L. Humphreys, Ed.M., from the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues identified and performed a meta-analysis of 15 studies with 2,565 participants that examined the association between childhood treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with psychostimulant medication and lifetime substance use, abuse, or dependence.
The researchers found that, for alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, nicotine, and nonspecific drugs, substance outcomes were similar regardless of medication treatment history.
"These results provide an important update and suggest that treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with stimulant medication neither protects nor increases the risk of later substance use disorders," Humphreys and colleagues conclude.
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