Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) is the most frequently diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder, estimated to affect 3 to 5% of school-age children. More than 1,000,000 children in the United States are currently receiving psychopharmacologic treatment for AD/HD. For more than two decades Jeffrey Halperin, Professor of Psychology and Educational Psychology at The Graduate Center and Queens College, has been conducting research examining behavioral, cognitive, neuropsychological, and neurochemical functioning in children with AD/HD. A substantial proportion of this research has been based on the premise that AD/HD is not a unitary disorder, and the thrust has been the identification of more homogeneous subgroups of children who might have distinct treatment responses or outcomes.
Currently, Professor Halperin is funded by NIMH to re-evaluate a large sample of clinically-referred children who were diagnosed with AD/HD between 1990 & 1997 using structured diagnostic interviews and a variety of neuropsychological instruments. The primary goals of the current research are a) to conduct a comprehensive clinical re-evaluation of these children to determine their psychiatric, behavioral, and neuro-psychological status as adolescents between the ages of 16 and 21; b) to ascertain the duration and nature of the treatment interventions they received; and c) to identify subgroups of children that are associated with distinct outcomes. In addition, the extent to which stimulant medication treatment is associated with adolescent substance use/abuse will be examined, and, as compared to controls, the neuropsychological status of subgroups of adolescents who were diagnosed as having AD/HD during childhood will be characterized.
* Adapted from 2002 Research Foundation Report