Drug treatment benefited children in the amount of school work that they completed , by up to 15 % , and less consistently improved children ’s accuracy in specific types of academic assignments , such as arithmetic .
Methylpheni date , dexamfetamine and mixed amfetamine formulations all showed beneficial effects on children ’s on-task behaviour and academic work completion .
These review findings suggest that medication for ADHD has the potential to improve children ’s learning and academic achievement
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) has a significant impact on children ’s classroom behaviour , daily functioning and experience of school life .
However , the effects of drug treatment for ADHD on learning and academic achievement are not fully understood .
This review was undertaken to describe the effects of methylpheni date , dexamfetamine , mixed amfetamine salts and atomoxetine on children ’s on-task  behaviour and their academic performance , and to perform a meta- analysis to quantify these effects .
Differential Effects of Methylphenidate and Self-Reinforcement on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Six boys aged 9 to 12 years attended a tutoring class focusing on reading for 30 minutes each morning . The investigators employed a modified Latin-square design in which each child began with a 5-day baseline phase followed by six 10-day treatment phases that used drug placebo , noncontingent reinforcers , 0.3 mg/kg methylpheni date , 0.7 mg/kg methylpheni date , and self-re-inforcement in various combinations . Amount of academic performance was the major measure of outcome and the target behavior of self-reinforcement . Drug placebo and noncontingent reinforcers had no systematic impact . Methylpheni date had differential effects across the recorded behaviors . Self-reinforcement improved the target behavior ; the mean effect size for self-reinforcement was 2.66 . The combined effects of methylpheni date and self-reinforcement on academic performance were greater than either of the treatments given alone ( mean effect size = 2.89 )
Drug treatment benefited children in the amount of school work that they completed , by up to 15 % , and less consistently improved children ’s accuracy in specific types of academic assignments , such as arithmetic .
Methylpheni date , dexamfetamine and mixed amfetamine formulations all showed beneficial effects on children ’s on-task behaviour and academic work completion .
These review findings suggest that medication for ADHD has the potential to improve children ’s learning and academic achievement
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) has a significant impact on children ’s classroom behaviour , daily functioning and experience of school life .
However , the effects of drug treatment for ADHD on learning and academic achievement are not fully understood .
This review was undertaken to describe the effects of methylpheni date , dexamfetamine , mixed amfetamine salts and atomoxetine on children ’s on-task  behaviour and their academic performance , and to perform a meta- analysis to quantify these effects .