Results There is some evidence of the effectiveness of medication in treating DBDs , with positive outcomes for lithium and risperidone in particular .
Pharmacotherapy also demonstrated some efficacy in reducing symptoms of aggression .
Medication was relatively well-tolerated , as indicated by equivalent dropout rates in medication and comparison groups .
Rationale Pharmacotherapy is frequently considered in the treatment of  disruptive behavior disorders ( DBDs ) in children and adolescents .
There are , however , no systematic review s of this literature .
Objectives The aim of this work is to determine whether medication is effective in treating pediatric disruptive behavior disorders and related problems of impulse control , as well as to examine differences in the treatment response and tolerability of different medication classes and agents .
Adolescent Outcomes of Childhood Conduct Disorder Among Clinic-Referred Boys: Predictors of Improvement
Much remains to be learned about the adolescent outcomes of clinic-referred boys whose childhood conduct problems are serious enough to meet diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder ( CD ) .  Six structured diagnostic assessment s were conducted over 7 years of 73 clinic-referred 7–12-year-old boys who met criteria for CD in Wave 1 . There were substantial individual differences in the adolescent outcomes of CD , ranging from worsening to sustained recovery , with most boys showing persistent , but fluctuating levels of CD . Improvement in CD was not accounted for by treatment or incarceration , but more positive outcomes over Waves 2–7 were predicted prospect ively with substantial accuracy , using a combination of baseline predictors : less initial severity of CD , fewer symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , higher child verbal intelligence , greater family socioeconomic advantage , and not having antisocial biological parents
Results There is some evidence of the effectiveness of medication in treating DBDs , with positive outcomes for lithium and risperidone in particular .
Pharmacotherapy also demonstrated some efficacy in reducing symptoms of aggression .
Medication was relatively well-tolerated , as indicated by equivalent dropout rates in medication and comparison groups .
Rationale Pharmacotherapy is frequently considered in the treatment of  disruptive behavior disorders ( DBDs ) in children and adolescents .
There are , however , no systematic review s of this literature .
Objectives The aim of this work is to determine whether medication is effective in treating pediatric disruptive behavior disorders and related problems of impulse control , as well as to examine differences in the treatment response and tolerability of different medication classes and agents .