For children ages 4 to 5, behavior therapy should be the first line treatment for ADHD.
For children ages 6 to 11, stimulant medication and behavior therapy are recommended, along with accommodations at school to address special needs. For adolescents ages 12 to 18, the key is to prescribe medication with the teen’s consent, and to administer it alongside behavior therapy. But should ADHD treatment with medication begin promptly at age 6? Or is it better to try alternative treatments and delay stimulants for as long as possible? Parents and physicians often struggle to pinpoint the exact right time to add stimulant medication to the treatment mix.at the University of Michigan and Mass General studied 40,000 high school seniors, more than 4,000 of whom had ADHD.
As a psychopharmacologist who’s worked with ADHD patients for years, it’s always somewhat unclear when a child should start medications for ADHD. This data is a very clear indicator that the people who did the best started taking stimulants prior to age 9.