Use of the restricted academic task in ADHD dose-response relationships.
Behavioral assessment techniques have been shown to make a significant contribution in the evaluation of stimulant medication response in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This article examines the role of a behavioral measure consisting of standardized observation of a child while he or she performs an academic-like task (Restricted Academic Task). This technique is reliable and valid for repeated administrations across medication dosages and placebo. It can assist in optimizing medication dosage for individual children, given its sensitivity to dosage effects. It also allows the capture of medication-related changes in an area of functioning that is not directly assessed by parent and teacher judgments and ratings. In this way the Restricted Academic Task may have greater ecological validity than the results of other, more traditional in-clinic measures. Finally, given the idiosyncratic nature of stimulant medication effects on individual children, it contributes to the explication of a specific child's behavioral dose-response relationship.
Fischer
M
M
Section of Neuropsychology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226, USA.
Newby
R F
RF
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010919:Placebos; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000187:drug effects*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D010919:Placebos; D008774:Methylphenidate