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 .
Neuroleptic-related dyskinesias in children and adolescents.
BACKGROUND Few studies have investigated the comparative risk of neuroleptic-related dyskinesias in children and adolescents receiving typical versus newer , atypical antipsychotics .  This prospect i ve study was completed to test whether clinical use of atypical antipsychotics is associated with less risk for developing neuroleptic-related dyskinesias than clinical use of typical neuroleptics in an unselected heterogeneous population of seriously emotionally disturbed youths admitted to acute residential treatment . We also tested a novel model of predictive risk for neuroleptic-related dyskinesias in children and adolescents . METHOD 102 children and adolescents receiving typical neuroleptics , atypical antipsychotics , or the combination were studied . Youths developing neuroleptic-related dyskinesias were compared with youths free of dyskinesias over a 3-month study period on demographic , diagnostic , and treatment variables . Logistic regression was utilized to develop a novel model of predictive risk . RESULTS Of neuroleptic-treated youths , 5.9 % had probable tardive dyskinesia , a rate less than the prevalence of tardive dyskinesia in chronic neuroleptic-treated adults . Use of typical neuroleptics was significantly ( p = .03 ) associated with dyskinesia compared with use of atypical antipsychotics . Four variables including IQ , initial Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale score , type of antipsychotic , and cumulative number of risk factors accounted for 35.8 % of the variance when predicting dyskinetic status . CONCLUSION Use of atypical antipsychotics appears to be associated with less dyskinesia risk than typical neuroleptics in an unselected group of seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents . Results support a cumulative risk model of neuroleptic-related dyskinesia in youths
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 .