Stimulant Effects on Disruptive Behavior

Recruiting now · Phase 4

Conditions studied: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Problem Behavior

In brief

The goal of this study is to determine the effects of stimulant medication on disruptive behavior, function, preference and choice; however, it is primarily methodological and will add to current research by establishing an effective evaluation of the impact of stimulant medication on these behaviors. Three behavior assessments for children and adolescents diagnosed with AD/HD who exhibit disruptive behavior will be conducted: 1. Preference assessments will be conducted to determine whether preference for social and nonsocial items and activities differs under medication and non-medication conditions. 2. Functional analyses will be conducted to determine whether stimulant medication has an effect on the frequency and function or purpose of disruptive behavior. 3. Choice assessments will be conducted to evaluate the impact of stimulant medication on impulse control/delay discounting. This study will be conducted in three phases. For each of the 5 to 10 participants there will be 8 total visits. The first 4 visits will entail a preference assessment, followed by a functional analysis. On visits 1 and 3, the participant will be asked to take his/her stimulant medication as is typically done; however, on visits 2 and 4, the participant will be asked to refrain from taking the medication. For visits 5-8, participants will continue to participate in preference assessments, but will also be presented with a choice arrangement with work and play. In the choice arrangement, participants will be given four work cards and four play cards that they can organize in any order. Work cards will be associated with a brief academic task and play cards will be associated with a brief play period using high-preferred toys/activities. On visits 5 and 7 the participant will be asked to take his or her stimulant medication as usual, while on visits 6 and 8 the participant will be asked to refrain from taking his or her medication.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT03420339
Run by: Matthew J O'Brien, PhD, BCBA-D
People needed: 10
Starts: 2018-10-01
Expected to finish: 2027-08-01
Last updated by the study team: 2025-03-17

Who can join

Age: 4 and older, up to 12. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

Participant must be a child or adolescent between the ages of 4 years, 0 months, and 13 years, 0 months (participants must not be older than 12 years, 11 months).
Participant must have a valid diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). No specification of type (e.g., predominately inattentive type, predominately hyperactive-impulsive type, or combined type) will be necessary.
Participant must exhibit disruptive behavior, defined as one or more of the following:
physical or verbal aggression towards others: Hitting, kicking, biting, scratching, choking, spitting at, or throwing items at another person, and/or making insults, threats, or swearing at another person.
self-injury: Hitting self, biting self, banging head on an object/hard surface, pinching self, or scratching self with visual skin damage.
destruction: Damaging (or attempts to damage) personal or public property (e.g., breaking an object into two or more pieces, using an object to break other objects, ripping objects or parts of objects from walls, floors, or furniture, and denting cars, objects, or walls.)
noncompliance:Regular occurrence of verbal refusal (e.g., saying "no", "I don't want to", "I won't do it" or "not now") to any academic or non-academic request, and/or any response that does not match the delivered instruction within 30 seconds from the time the instruction was delivered.
tantrum:Crying (i.e., any vocalizations [sounds or words] accompanied by facial contraction with and without tears for any period of time) and/or screaming (occurrence of vocalizations above normal conversational volume for any period of time), with or without body flailing.
an active diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder or oppositional defiant disorder.
Participant must already be prescribed a stimulant medication for the treatment of AD/HD symptoms and at an approved dose for age.

You may not qualify if…

a diagnosis of autism, conduct disorder, or intellectual disability in the moderate, severe or profound range.
prescribed or taking a stimulant dosage outside of recommended therapeutic range.

Where it is running

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics — Iowa City, Iowa, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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