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 .
Prescribing practices of outpatient child psychiatrists.
OBJECTIVE This study was design ed to assess outpatient child psychiatrists ' prescribing practice s. METHOD Of 1,422 out patients in two public , university affiliated setting s in New York and Ohio , the charts of 146 medicated and 126 nonmedicated r and omly selected patients were review ed for demographic variables , DSM-III-R diagnoses , medications prescribed , and charted prescription rationale s. RESULTS Fifteen percent of the 800 out patients seen in a 1-month period in New York , and 19 % of the 626 out patients seen in a 1-year period in Ohio were prescribed medication . Patients medicated by clinic psychiatrists were significantly more likely than nonmedicated patients to be psychotic and to have been hospitalized previously , and significantly less likely to have adjustment disorder . Using st and ards employed by drug utilization review committees , medications were prescribed appropriately in approximately 90 % of cases . Of concern , 65 % of patients given antipsychotics in New York and 67 % in Ohio were not psychotic ; the primary target symptom in such cases was aggression . CONCLUSIONS Prescribing practice s appeared to be appropriate , although the use of antipsychotic medications in nonpsychotic children is a concern for the field of child psychiatry . The strong similarity of practice s in two independent and geographically remote sites suggests the findings are generalizable to providers in other public , university affiliated setting
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 .