Official title: Identification of Neural Markers of Aggression and Irritability and Their Capacity to Predict Treatment Response to CNS Stimulant Medication in Youth With ADHD Summary: Impulsive Aggression and chronic irritability (IACI) often occur together and are one of the most common reasons children present for behavioral health (BH) care. ADHD frequently associated with IACI as upwards of 50% of youth with ADHD manifest impairing IACI levels.
IACI is the most common reason that children with ADHD are prescribed antipsychotics and admitted to inpatient BH units. Systematic dose optimization of CNS stimulants improves levels of IACI, reducing the need for these more intensive and burdensome treatments.
However, response varies, with over half of children with ADHD showing meaningful improvement, upwards of 40% receiving minimal benefit and 3 to 10% exhibiting increased IACI levels. Symptom levels of ADHD or IACI and other demographic variables are of limited utility for predicting response, suggesting the need to move beyond symptoms in the search for treatment predictors.
ClinicalTrials.gov published a clinical update in Critical Care on 16 Mar 2026.
The item focuses on Predictors of Improvements in Irritability and Aggression in Children With ADHD Treated With CNS Stimulants.
Review the original article for the full source wording and details.