ADHD medication could be reducing suicidal thoughts in children with ADHD symptoms

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-06-05 01:00

International

Christina Victoria Craft

Children who act out in ways typically associated with ADHD could be less likely to have suicidal thoughts if they are taking ADHD medication, say international researchers. Researchers studied a group of 11,878 US children, of which 1,006 were taking ADHD medication and 1,040 children had thought about or attempted suicide. For children not taking ADHD medications, externalising symptoms were associated with higher odds of suicidal thoughts. However for those taking the medications, there was no such association despite those taking ADHD medication having higher overall odds of suicidal thoughts.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Tel Aviv University, Israel

Funder: This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant K23MH120437 to Dr Barzilay, grant R21MH123916 to Dr Barzilay, and grant RO1MH117014 to Dr Moore) and the Lifespan Brain Institute of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. The ABCD Study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and additional federal partners under award numbers U01DA041048, U01DA050989, U01DA051016, U01DA041022, U01DA051018, U01DA051037, U01DA050987, U01DA041174, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041028, U01DA041134, U01DA050988, U01DA051039, U01DA041156, U01DA041025, U01DA041120, U01DA051038, U01DA041148, U01DA041093, U01DA041089, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147.

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