Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T15:45:19.629Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pharmacotherapy of School Refusal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

Bruce J. Tonge
Bruce J. Tonge*
Affiliation:
Monash University
*
Centre for Developmental Psychiatry, Monash Medical Centre, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton VIC 3168, Australia
Get access

Extract

This paper reviews the role and indications for pharmacotherapy of children with school refusal. The psychopharmacological treatment of school refusal is based mainly on evidence of the effectiveness of certain drugs in the treatment of adult disorders. There is some evidence that tricyclic antidepressants and benzobiazepines may be specifically useful in the treatment of school refusal, but further research is warranted. Potentially serious side effects mean that drugs are best confined to cases where psychological treatments have not been effective or where drugs are used briefly as an adjunct to a broader psychological treatment plan. Drugs may also have a role in the specific treatment of comorbid conditions associated with school refusal. Any use of drugs should involve regular reviews to monitor response, compliance, and side effects.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 1998 , pp. 98 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alessi, N., Naylo, M.W., Ghaziuddin, M., & Zubieta, J.K. (1994). Update on lithium carbonate therapy in children and adolescents. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry, 33, 291–304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aman, M.G., & Werry, J.S. (1982). Methylphenidate and diazepam in severe reading retardation. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 21, 31–37.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Ballenger, J.C. (1986). Pharmacotherapy of panic disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 47, 27–33.Google Scholar
Bangs, M.E., Petti, T.A., & Janus, M.D. (1994). Fluoxetine induced memory impairment in an adolescent. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1303–1306.Google Scholar
Bartels, M.G., Varley, C.K., Mitchell, M.D., & Slam, S.J. (1991). Paediatric cardiovascular effects of Imipramine and desipramine. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 100–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berg, I., Nichols, K., & Pritchard, C. (1969). School phobia: Its classification and relationship to dependency. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 123–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berney, T., Kolvin, I., Bhate, S.R., Garside, R.F., Jeans, J., Kaye, B., & Scarth, L. (1981). School phobia: A therapeutic trial with clomipramine and short term outcomes. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 110–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, G. (1990). Anxiety disorders. In Garkfinkel, B.D., Carlson, G.A., & Weller, E.B. (Eds.), Psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents (pp. 64–83). Philadelphia: Saunders.Google Scholar
Bernstein, G.A., Garfinkel, B.D., & Borchardt, C.M. (1990). Comparative studies of pharmacotherapy for school refusal. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 773–784.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boulos, C., Cutcher, S., Gardner, D., & Young, E. (1992). An open naturalistic trial of fluoxetine in adolescents and young adults with treatment resistant major depression. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 2, 103–111.Google Scholar
Carr, R. (1983). The role of medication in the treatment of the disturbed child. In Steinhauer, P.D. & Rae-Grant, Q. (Eds.), Psychological problems of the child and the family (pp. 635–663). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
D'Amato, G. (1962). Chlordiazepoxide in the treatment of school phobia. Diseases of the Nervous System, 23, 292–295.Google Scholar
DeLong, R.G., & Aldershof, A.L. (1987). Long term experiences with lithium treatment in childhood: Correlation with clinical diagnosis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 389–394.Google Scholar
Depression Guideline Panel. (1993). Depression in primary care: Treatment of major depression (Vols. 1 and 2) Clinical Practice Guideline, No. 5 (AHCPR publication No. 93–0551). Rockville, MD: US Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Health Care Policy & Research.Google Scholar
Desai, N., Taylor-Davies, A., & Barnett, D. (1983). The effects of Diazepam and Oxpranolol on short term memory in individuals of high and low state anxiety. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 15, 197–201.Google Scholar
Emslie, G.J., Rush, A.J., Weinberg, W.A., Kowatch, R.A., Hughes, C.W., Carmody, T., & Rintelmann, J. (1997). A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine in children and adolescents with depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 1031–1037.Google Scholar
Famularo, R., Kinscheroff, R., & Fenton, T. (1988). Propranolol treatment for childhood post traumatic stress disorder, acute type. American Journal of the Diseases of Childhood, 142, 1244–1247.Google Scholar
Frommer, E.A. (1967). Treatment of childhood depression with antidepressant drugs. British Medical Journal, 1, 729–732.Google Scholar
Gammon, G.D., & Brown, T.E. (1993). Fluoxetine and methylphenidate in combination for treatment of attention deficit disorder and comorbid depressive disorder. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 3, 1–10.Google Scholar
Garfield, S.L., Helper, M.M., Wilcott, R.C., & Muffly, R. (1962). Effects of chlorpromazine on behaviour in emotionally disturbed children. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 135, 147–154.Google Scholar
Gittelman-Klein, R., & Klein, D.F. (1971). Controlled Imipramine treatment of school phobia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 25, 204–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iancu, I., Ratzoni, G., Weitzman, A., & Apeter, A. (1992). More fluoxetine experience. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 755–756.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janicak, P.G., David, J.M., Preskorn, S.H., & Ayd, F.J. (1993). Treatment with antidepressants. In Janicak, P.G. (Ed.), Principles and practice of psychopharmacotherapy (pp. 209–292). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
King, N.J., Ollendick, T.H., & Tonge, B.J. (1995). School refusal: Assessment and treatment. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
King, R.A., Riddle, M.A., Chappell, P.B., Hardin, M.T., Anderson, G.M., Lerubroso, P., & Scahill, L. (1991). Emergence of self-destructive phenomena in children and adolescents during fluoxetine treatment. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 179–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, R.G., Koplewicz, H.S., & Kanner, A. (1992). Imipramine treatment of children with separation anxiety disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 21–28.Google Scholar
Kraft, I.A., Ardali, C., Duffy, J.H., Hart, J.T., & Pearce, P. (1965). A clinical study of chlordiazepoxide used in psychiatric disorders in children. International Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 1, 433–437.Google Scholar
Lucas, A.R., & Pasley, F.C. (1969). Psychoactive drugs in the treatment of emotionally disturbed children: Haloperidol and diazepam. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 10, 376–386.Google Scholar
Mant, A., Lansbury, G., & Bridges-Webb, C. (1987). Trends in psychotropic drug prescribing in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 146, 208–210.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S.A., Henry, J., McDonald, G., Dinnan, T., Lader, M., Hinmarch, I., Clare, A., & Nutt, D. (1994). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: Meta-analysis of discontinuation rates. International Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 9, 47–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health and Medical Research Council. (1997). Depression in young people: Clinical practice guidelines. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Papatheodorou, G., & Kutcher, S.P. (1993). Divalproex sodium treatment in late adolescent and young adult acute mania. Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 29, 213–219.Google Scholar
Riddle, M.A., Nelson, J.C., Kleinman, C.S., Rasmusson, A., Leckman, J.F., King, R.A., & Cohen, D.J. (1991). Sudden death in children receiving Norpramin: A review of three reported cases and commentary. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20, 104–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, N.D. (1992). The pharmacologic treatment of child and adolescent depression. Paediatric Psychopharmacology, 15, 29–40.Google Scholar
Simeon, J.G., Ferguson, H.B., Knott, V., Roberts, N., Gauthier, B., Dubois, B.A., & Wiggins, D. (1992). Clinical cognitive and neurophysiological effects of alprazolam in children and adolescents with over-anxious and avoidant disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 29–33.Google Scholar
Sleator, E.K. (1985). Measurement of compliance. Psychomarphacological Bulletin, 21, 1089–1093.Google ScholarPubMed
Strober, M., Freeman, R., & Rigali, J. (1990). The pharmacotherapy of depressive illness in adolescents: I. An open label trial of Imipramine. Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 26, 84.Google ScholarPubMed
Strober, M., Morrell, W., Lampert, C., & Burroughs, J. (1990). Relapse following discontinuation of lithium maintenance therapy in adolescents with bipolar 1 illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 457–461.Google Scholar
Tiller, J., Maguire, K., & Davies, B. (1990). A sequential double blind controlled study of moclobemide and mianserin in elderly depressed patients. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5, 199–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venkataraman, S., Naylor, M.W., & King, C.A. (1992). Mania associated with fluoxetine treatment in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 276–281.Google Scholar
Viesselman, J.O., Yaylayan, S., Weller, E.B., & Weller, R.A. (1993). Antidysthymic drugs. In Werry, J.S. & Aman, M.G. (Eds.), Practitioner's guide to psychoactive drugs for children and adolescents (pp. 239–268). New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Waters, B. (1990). Pharmacological and other physical treatments. In Tonge, B.J.Burrows, G., & Werry, J. (Eds.), Handbook of studies on child psychiatry (pp. 388–402). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Werry, J.S. (1993). A guide for practitioners, professionals and public. In Werry, J.S. & Aman, M.G. (Eds.), Practitioner's guide to psychoactive drugs for children and adolescents (pp. 3–20). New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (1992). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: Author.Google Scholar