title: Pearls, perils, and pitfalls in the assessment and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide clinicians with an updated overview of key considerations related to the clinical assessment and management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The American Psychiatric Association's recently revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 included significant changes regarding diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recently revised their Clinical Practice Guidelines for ADHD; whereas prior guidelines were focused on children aged 6-12, the new guidelines extend up to age 17. An understanding of these revised diagnostic criteria and clinical guidelines is essential for pediatricians and others who care for adolescents. In addition to providing an updated review of the clinical approach to assessment and treatment of ADHD in adolescents, recent findings are briefly described relating to common comorbidities, psychosocial risks, and long-term outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diagnosis and treatment of adolescents with ADHD present unique challenges and obstacles. Clinicians need to be careful and deliberate in their evaluation of a teenager with recent-onset symptoms suggestive of ADHD, giving consideration to other conditions that could mimic ADHD and screening for common comorbid conditions. In terms of treatment of adolescents, the AAP recommends medication as the first-line intervention, noting that stimulants have a much broader evidence base and larger effect size than nonstimulants. Although clinicians now have a multitude of medication formulations to choose among, they must also be vigilant to the potential for stimulant misuse and diversion.
authors.affiliation: aPsychology Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey bDevelopmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, New Hyde Park, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Obianuju
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Obioha
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adesman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants