Background: the high prevalence and morbidity of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) ill Youth, the secretive nature of the disorder leading to under-recognition, and the lack of specialized child psychiatry services in many areas suggest that a simple, quick, and reliable screening tool to identify cases Could be very useful to clinicians who work with children.Method: We used 8 items from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), an empirically derived instrument free of clinician bias, to investigate the usefulness of a previously reported CBCL-based obsessive compulsive scale (OCS) by Nelson et a] [Nelson EC, Hanna GL, Hudziak JJ, Botteron KN, Heath AC, Todd RD. Obsessive - compulsive scale of the Child Behavior Checklist: Specificity, sensitivity, and predictive power. Pediatrics 2001;108(1):E14] in a separate cohort of youth with OCD. We computed the psychometric properties of the OCS in outsample of youth with OCD and in psychiatric and normal controls, and compared these to the published values.Results: Using the recommended Cutoff between the 60th and 70th percentiles of the OCS to best predict the presence of OCD, we round p very high sensitivity (92%-78%), specificity (86%-94%), negative predictive value (96%-90%), and positive predictive value (77%-86%).Conclusions: The OC scale of the CBCL shows good reliability and validity and acceptable psychometric properties to help discriminate youth with OCD. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Background: The few controlled studies of methylphenidate (MPH) in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have reported equivocal results. A previous, pilot study by our group suggested that these results were dure to inadequate dosing.Method: We conducted a randomized, 6-week, placebo-controlled, parallel study of MPH in 146 adult patients with DSM-IV ADHD using standardized instruments for diagnosis, separate assessments of ADHD, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and a robust average oral daily doze of 1.1 mg/kg/day.Results: We found a marked therapeutic response for the MPH treatment of ADHD symptoms that exceeded the placebo response (76% vs. 19%). Treatment was safe and well tolerated. Response to MPH was independent of socioeconomic status, gender, and lifetime history of psychiatric comorbidity.Conclusions: These results confirm that robust doses of MPH are effective in the treatment of adult ADHD.

Because attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) first was considered a childhood disorder, with symptoms dissipating as the person approached adulthood, any history about adult ADHD is rooted in the early descriptions of affected children. This article focuses on elements of the history of the disorder that inform the concept of adult ADHD.

BACKGROUND:Despite the increasing recognition of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BPD) in adults, there are no prospective trials of pharmacological agents to treat ADHD in these patients. Given the efficacy of bupropion for ADHD in adults, as well as its use in the management of bipolar depression, we studied the tolerability and efficacy of sustained-release (SR) bupropion in adults with ADHD plus BPD. METHODS:This was an open, prospective, 6-week trial of bupropion SR (up to 200 mg b.i.d.) in adults with DSM-IV ADHD plus historical bipolar I disorder (BPD I) (10%) or bipolar II disorder (BPD II) (90%). Adults receiving adjunct antimanic agents (mood stabilizers and antipsychotics) at baseline were included in the study. We used standardized psychiatric instruments for diagnosis and outcome. Efficacy was based primarily on the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) for ADHD and the ADHD symptom checklist. RESULTS:Of 36 patients entered (75% male, mean age 34 years), 30 patients (83%) completed the protocol. At end point (last observation carried forward [LOCF]) compared to baseline, treatment with bupropion SR resulted in significant reductions in the ADHD symptom checklist (-55%, z = 5.63, p <.001) and CGI severity of ADHD (-40%, z = 6.285, p <.001). Bupropion was associated with reductions in ratings of mania and depression. CONCLUSIONS:The results from this open study of adults with ADHD plus BPD suggest that sustained-release bupropion may be effective in treating ADHD in the context of a lifetime diagnosis of BPD, without significant activation of mania. Further controlled trials are warranted.

BACKGROUND We report on a controlled trial of a mixed amphetamine salts compound (Adderall, dextroamphetamine sulfate, dextro-, levoamphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine aspartate, levoamphetamine aspartate, and dextroamphetamine saccharate) in the treatment of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS This was a 7-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of Adderall in 27 well-characterized adults satisfying full DSM-IV criteria for ADHD of childhood onset and persistent symptoms into adulthood. Medication was titrated up to 30 mg twice a day. Outcome measures included the ADHD Rating Scale and the Clinical Global Impression Score. Comorbid psychiatric disorders were assessed to test for potential effects on treatment outcome. RESULTS Treatment with Adderall at an average oral dose of 54 mg (administered in 2 daily doses) was effective and well tolerated. Drug-specific improvement in ADHD symptoms was highly significant overall (42% decrease on the ADHD Rating Scale, P<.001), and sufficiently robust to be detectable in a parallel groups comparison restricted to the first 3 weeks of the protocol (P<.001). The percentage of subjects who improved (reduction in the ADHD rating scale of > or =30%) was significantly higher with Adderall treatment than with a placebo (70% vs 7%; P =.001). CONCLUSIONS Adderall was effective and well tolerated in the short-term treatment of adults with ADHD. More work is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of Adderall, or other amphetamine compounds, in the treatment of adults with ADHD.

OBJECTIVEDespite the increasing recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults, there is a paucity of controlled pharmacological trials demonstrating the effectiveness of compounds used in treatment, particularly nonstimulants. The authors report results from a controlled investigation to determine the anti-ADHD efficacy of bupropion in adult patients with DSM-IV ADHD.METHODThis was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel, 6-week trial comparing patients receiving sustained-release bupropion (up to 200 mg b.i.d.) (N=21) to patients receiving placebo (N=19). The authors used standardized structured psychiatric instruments for diagnosis of ADHD. To measure improvement, they used separate assessments of ADHD, depression, and anxiety symptoms at baseline and each weekly visit.RESULTSOf the 40 subjects (55% male) enrolled in the study, 38 completed the study. Bupropion treatment was associated with a significant change in ADHD symptoms at the week-6 endpoint (42% reduction), which exceeded the effects of placebo (24% reduction). In analyses using a cutoff of 30% or better reduction to denote response, 76% of the subjects receiving bupropion improved, compared to 37% of the subjects receiving placebo. Similarly, in analyses using Clinical Global Impression scale scores, 52% of the subjects receiving bupropion reported being "much improved" to "very improved," compared to 11% of the subjects receiving placebo.CONCLUSIONSThese results indicate a clinically and statistically significant effect of bupropion in improving ADHD in adults. The results suggest a therapeutic role for bupropion in the armamentarium of agents for ADHD in adults, while further validating the continuity of pharmacological responsivity of ADHD across the lifespan.