title: Do stimulant medications improve educational and behavioral outcomes for children with ADHD?
abstract: We examine the effects of a policy change in the province of Quebec, Canada which greatly expanded insurance coverage for prescription medications. We show that the change was associated with a sharp increase in the use of stimulant medications commonly prescribed for ADHD in Quebec relative to the rest of Canada. We ask whether this increase in medication use was associated with improvements in emotional functioning or academic outcomes among children with ADHD. We find little evidence of improvement in either the medium or the long run. Our results are silent on the effects on optimal use of medication for ADHD, but suggest that expanding medication in a community setting had little positive benefit and may have had harmful effects given the average way these drugs are used in the community.
authors: Princeton University and NBER, United States. Electronic address: jcurrie@princeton.edu.
authors: Janet
authors: J
authors: Currie
authors: University of Toronto and NBER, Canada.
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Stabile
authors: Cornell University, United States.
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011792:Quebec
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants
keywords: ADHD; Children's mental health; Prescription drug coverage; Ritalin; Stimulants