Methylphenidate improves some but not all measures of ATTENTION, as measured by the TEA-Ch in medication-naïve children with ADHD
Open accessAbstract
The Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) is a reliable neuropsychological assessment of attention control in children. Methylphenidate (MPH) is an effective treatment to improve attentional difficulties in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous studies investigating the effects of MPH on attention performance of children with ADHD have produced mixed results and prior MPH usage may have confounded these results. No previous study has tested the effects of MPH on the entire TEA-Ch battery. This study investigated the effects of MPH on attention performance using the entire TEA-Ch in 51 medication-naïve children with ADHD compared with 35 nonmedicated typically developing children. All children were tested at baseline and after 6 weeks: The children with ADHD were medication-naïve at baseline, received MPH for 6 weeks and were tested whilst on medication at the second testing session. A beneficial effect of MPH administration was found on at least one subtest of each of the three forms of attention (selective, sustained, and attentional control) assessed by the TEA-Ch, independent of practice effects. MPH aided performance on the TEA-Ch tasks that were inherently nonarousing and that might require top-down control of attention. It is recommended that the TEA-Ch measures--Sky Search Count (selective attention),Score! (sustained attention), Creature Counting Time Taken for older children (attentional control), and Same Worlds (attentional control) be prioritized for use in future pharmacological studies using MPH.
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Methylphenidate and amphetamine have been demonstrated to improve selective attention.
“Similarly, methylphenidate111,112 and amphetamine113 have been demonstrated to improve selective attention”
From Paying attention to attention in depression (2019) · cites this paper as [111]
Methylphenidate has been shown to improve divided attention.
“while methylphenidate has been shown to improve divided attention111.”
From Paying attention to attention in depression (2019) · cites this paper as [111]
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- Authors
- Paton, K., Hammond, P., Barry, E., Fitzgerald, M., McNicholas, F., Kirley, A., Robertson, I. H., Bellgrove, M. A., Gill, M., & Johnson, K. A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (IE)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin (IE)
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Katherine A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Child Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-05-02
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 303-318
- ISSN
- 0929-7049 (ISSN-L)
- 1744-4136
- OpenAlex
- W2028938893
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 0.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Child Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- methylphenidate, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attentional control, selective attention, sustained attention, top-down control
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Central Nervous System Stimulants, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Methylphenidate, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Wechsler Scales, Case-Control Studies, Treatment Outcome
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