No convincing evidence suggests that atypical antipsychotic medications are superior to typical medications for the treatment of adolescents with psychosis .
However , atypical antipsychotic medications may be more acceptable to young people because fewer symptomatic adverse effects are seen in the short term .
Little evidence is available to support the superiority of one atypical antipsychotic medication over another , but side effect profiles are different for different medications .
Treatment with olanzapine , risperidone and clozapine is often associated with weight gain .
Aripiprazole is not associated with increased prolactin or with dyslipidaemia .
Adolescents may respond better to st and ard-dose as opposed to lower-dose risperidone , but for aripiprazole and ziprasidone , lower doses may be equally effective .
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia often presents in adolescence , but current treatment guidelines are based largely on studies of adults with psychosis .
Over the past decade , the number of studies on treatment of adolescent-onset psychosis has increased .
The current systematic review collates and critiques evidence obtained on the use of various atypical antipsychotic medications for adolescents with psychosis .
OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of atypical antipsychotic medications in adolescents with psychosis .
We review ed in separate analyses various comparisons of atypical antipsychotic medications with placebo or a typical antipsychotic medication or another atypical antipsychotic medication or the same atypical antipsychotic medication but at a lower dose .
Efficacy, safety and tolerability of two dosing regimens in adolescent schizophrenia: double-blind study.
BACKGROUND Effective treatments for adolescent schizophrenia are needed . AIMS To compare efficacy and safety of two dosing regimens of risperidone . METHOD Double-blind , 8-week study . Patients , 13 - 17 years , with an acute episode of schizophrenia , r and omised 1:1 to risperidone  1.5 - 6.0 mg/day ( regimen A ; n=125 ) or 0.15 - 0.6 mg/day ( regimen B ; n=132 ) . TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT00034749 . RESULTS Mean total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ( PANSS ) score improved significantly ( P<0.001 ; effect size=0.49 ) from baseline to end-point for regimen A ( mean=96.4 ( s.d.=15.39 ) to mean=72.8 ( s.d.=22.52 ) ) compared with regimen B ( mean=93.3 ( s.d.=14.14 ) to mean=80.8 ( s.d.=24.33 ) ) . Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 74 % ( regimen A ) and 65 % ( regimen B ) of patients ; 4 % of patients overall discontinued for adverse events . Mean change in body weight was 3.2 kg ( s.d.=3.49 ) for regimen A and 1.7 kg ( s.d.=3.29 ) for regimen B. CONCLUSIONS Adolescent patients in the regimen A group showed greater improvement in total PANSS compared with the regimen B group . Treatment was well tolerated
No convincing evidence suggests that atypical antipsychotic medications are superior to typical medications for the treatment of adolescents with psychosis .
However , atypical antipsychotic medications may be more acceptable to young people because fewer symptomatic adverse effects are seen in the short term .
Little evidence is available to support the superiority of one atypical antipsychotic medication over another , but side effect profiles are different for different medications .
Treatment with olanzapine , risperidone and clozapine is often associated with weight gain .
Aripiprazole is not associated with increased prolactin or with dyslipidaemia .
Adolescents may respond better to st and ard-dose as opposed to lower-dose risperidone , but for aripiprazole and ziprasidone , lower doses may be equally effective .
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia often presents in adolescence , but current treatment guidelines are based largely on studies of adults with psychosis .
Over the past decade , the number of studies on treatment of adolescent-onset psychosis has increased .
The current systematic review collates and critiques evidence obtained on the use of various atypical antipsychotic medications for adolescents with psychosis .
OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of atypical antipsychotic medications in adolescents with psychosis .
We review ed in separate analyses various comparisons of atypical antipsychotic medications with placebo or a typical antipsychotic medication or another atypical antipsychotic medication or the same atypical antipsychotic medication but at a lower dose .