| resumeang: Reviewed treatment interventions for pediatric populations (i.e., children and adolescents) involving the combination of pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy or either treatment employed alone. The literature revealed a dearth of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy outcome studies, with the exception of investigations of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Issues pertaining to design, including sample selection, treatment integrity and comparability, and placebo controls also are reviewed. Other issues are noted including parental attitudes toward the use of medication vs psychotherapy, treatment adherence, and patient-provider relationship. For children diagnosed with ADHD, the use of stimulant medication appears to be superior to psychotherapy employed alone in managing the behavior of these children as well as their classroom functioning. Recommendations are made for multimodal trials that examine the combined and individual use of pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies for various developmental and psychiatric disorders that occur in childhood and adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved): |
