Follow up Treatment of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Efficacy of Careful Medication and Tailored Case Management Follow up Treatment for Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The purpose of the study is to examine how well two types of treatment follow up work compared to one another:

1. standard community follow up
2. medication monitoring plus tailored case management follow up.

A child's participation will involve 3 months of treatment consisting of medication and psychological, behavioural, and academic interventions tailored to their individual needs.

Following this treatment, the child will be randomly assigned to receive two years of either community follow up or medication monitoring plus tailored case management follow up delivered by the study team. During both types of follow up, at 6 month intervals, the parent and child will be asked to complete interviews with our study personnel and comprehensive assessments pertaining to ADHD symptoms and various other areas of functioning.

Parents will also be asked to obtain information from the child's teacher regarding the child's functioning at 6 month intervals during the school year.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 6 to 12 years
• DSM-IV ADHD diagnosis by a specialist i.e. child psychiatrist or developmental paediatrician (DSM 5 ADHD criteria do not differ dramatically from DSM IV criteria for children)
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) > 80 as per the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV)
• Proficiency in English or French

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or psychosis
• Significant brain traumas (encephalitis, head injury requiring hospitalization, etc.)
• Major medical conditions or impairments that would interfere with the ability of the child to complete testing or take psychostimulants, e.g., epilepsy, cardiac abnormalities, or renal abnormalities.