Treatment for ADHD

Did you know? Treatment for ADHD can include behavior therapy and medication. For children 6 years of age and older, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends behavior therapy and medication, preferably both together. For children under 6 years of age behavior therapy is recommended as the first line of treatment. Read more about recommendations

About 3 in 4 US children with current ADHD receive treatment

A national parent survey from 20161 reported on medication and behavioral treatment for children 2–17 years of age with current ADHD:

62% were taking ADHD medication Ages 2–5: 18% Ages 6–11: 69% Ages 12–17: 62%



47% received behavioral treatment Ages 2–5: 60% Ages 6–11: 51% Ages 12–17: 42%



Altogether, 77% were receiving treatment. Of these children: About 30% were treated with medication alone. About 15% received behavioral treatment alone. About 32% children with ADHD received both medication treatment and behavioral treatment.



About 23% children with ADHD were receiving neither medication treatment nor behavioral treatment.

It is not known what type of behavioral treatment these children received.

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Most children with ADHD receive some types of services

A more in-depth national survey2 from 2014 reported on treatment and services that children with ADHD had received at some point prior to the survey. This survey was conducted with parents of children 4–17 years of age who had ever been diagnosed with ADHD.

Almost 9 out of 10 children had received school support, which includes school accommodations and help in the classroom.

About 6 out of 10 children had received some type of behavioral treatment or skills training: 3 out of 10 received parent-delivered behavior therapy (/ncbddd/adhd/behavior-therapy.html). 4 out of 10 received social skills training. 3 out of 10 received peer interventions. 2 out of 10 received cognitive behavioral therapy.



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Read more about different types of therapy

Recommendations for treatment of ADHD

State-based Information about ADHD medication treatment (2007-2012)

Healthcare claims data show treatment gaps

In addition to parent-reported data, healthcare claims from Medicaid or employer-sponsored insurance provide another way to understand treatment patterns. A study3 looking at the healthcare claims data for young US children found:

During 2008–2011, children ages 2–5 years covered by Medicaid were twice as likely to receive clinical care for ADHD compared with similar-aged children covered by commercial employer-sponsored insurance.

About 3 in 4 children ages 2–5 years who had clinical care for ADHD recorded in their healthcare claims from 2008–2014 received ADHD medication, and fewer than half received any form of psychological services.

It is not known what types of psychological services these children received, or whether these children received behavioral treatments that were not entered into the healthcare claims data.

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References