Predicting the response of hyperkinetic children to stimulant drugs: A review

The present review examines 36 previous research reports involving over 1,400 hyperkinetic children in an effort to determine which variables have proven useful in predicting which hyperkinetic children will respond favorably to stimulant drugs. The research is summarized under eight types of predictor variables: (1) psychophysiological, (2) neurological, (3) familial, (4) demographic/sociological, (5) diagnostic category, (6) parent/teacher/clinician ratings, (7) psychological, and (8) profile types. The results of this review indicate that, to date, measures of attention span or concentration and its correlates have proven to be the most useful predictors of the response of hyperactive children to drugs. The results also suggest that hyperkinetic children are heterogeneous with respect to levels of CNS arousal and that this variable may prove useful in predicting their response to stimulant drugs. Problems involved in drawing conclusions in a review of this area of research as well as directions which future research might pursue also are briefly discussed.