PEDIATRICS Vol. 108 No. 4 October 2001, pp. 983-989
SPECIAL ARTICLE:
Psychopharmacology for Young Children: Clinical Needs and
Research Opportunities
Received Dec 22, 2000; accepted Feb 26, 2001.
From the Child and Adolescent Treatment and Preventive
Interventions Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health,
Bethesda, Maryland.
In response to concerns about the increasing use
of psychotropic medications in preschoolers, the National Institute of
Mental Health and the Food and Drug Administration convened a workshop in October 2000 to examine the current state of knowledge regarding psychopharmacology for young children and discuss a variety of topics
relevant to research in this age group, including safety, efficacy,
investigational methods, and ethical aspects. The meeting gathered
researchers, practitioners, ethicists, industry staff, and family and
patient representatives. Efficacy and safety of psychotropics have not
been systematically evaluated in preschoolers. The major limitation to
this research is the diagnostic uncertainty surrounding most
manifestations of psychopathology in early childhood. Research in
developmental psychopathology is needed to clarify diagnosis and
provide sensitive and specific methods for clinical trials. Possible
approaches to expanding the research basis of this area of clinical
practice, including a recently started study of methylphenidate in
preschoolers, are reported here.
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