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The Effect of Methylphenidate and Clonidine on Response Inhibition and State Regulation in Children with ADHD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1999

Jaap van der Meere
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Experimental Clinical Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
Boudewijn Gunning
Affiliation:
Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nanke Stemerdink
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Experimental Clinical Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) and clonidine in comparison with placebo on response inhibition and state regulation in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The study utilised a double-blind cross-over design in which children were randomly assigned without replacement to placebo, MPH, and clonidine following baseline assessment. The primary dependent measures were derived from children's performance (reaction time and errors) on a GO–NO GO task under three conditions that altered the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) for presented GO–NO GO stimuli: ISI of 1 sec (fast condition), 4 sec (medium condition), and 8 sec (slow condition). Findings indicated no difference in task performance between groups treated for 7 weeks with placebo, MPH, and clonidine. We concluded that the state regulation problem in ADHD is resistant to MPH and clonidine.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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