Just Say 'No' to Drugs as a First Treatment for Child Problems

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CONTINUE READING
Just Say ‘No’ to Drugs as a First
Treatment for Child Problems
Barry L. Duncan, Jacqueline A. Sparks,
J o h n J . M u r p h y AN D S c o t t D . M i ll e r

  When children and teens present with behaviour and emotional problems the lure of a quick fix is
  understandable and drugs present a ready-made solution. Therapists are often hesitant to talk about
  medication and defer to medical professionals. In this paper DUNCAN, SPARKS, MURPHY and MILLER
  highlight the explosion in the use of psychotropic medications for children and teens. This trend flies in the
  face of the American Psychological Association’s recommendation of the use of psychosocial interventions
  as the first intervention of choice with children and teens. The reliability and validity of psychiatric diagnoses is
  questioned, in particular against a background of fluctuations in child development and social adaptations,
  and a compelling critique is provided of the current research findings on the effectiveness of psychotropic
  medications including antidepressants and ADHD medications. Therapists are urged to shed their timidity
  and discuss openly the risks and benefits of medication with the knowledge that there is empirical support
  for psychosocial interventions as a first line approach. Recommendations are offered to engage clients as
  central partners in developing solutions—medical or non-medical—that fit each child and each situation.

A      mother has a moment of panic,
       spying her daughter’s arms
crisscrossed with red cuts.
                                              medication with the families they see,
                                              choosing instead to defer to medical
                                              professionals. But to not talk about
                                                                                          Aren’t we stepping out of our expertise
                                                                                          and professional role to discuss
                                                                                          medications with clients?
   A harried teacher does a double            psychiatric drugs in today’s world of          While we may be stepping out
take when the behaviour of a typically        ubiquitous chemical imbalances and          of our comfort zones, we are not
disruptive middle schooler takes a            glossy advertising remedies is to ignore    travelling beyond the boundaries of our
bizarre turn. Young parents are at a          the proverbial elephant in the living       expertise to discuss options regarding
loss to explain the uncontrollable rages      room. Prescriptions of psychotropic         treatment approaches for young people
of their five-year old. In each case,         drugs for children and adolescents have     in distress. We need not fear these
the spectre of mental illness hovers,         skyrocketed. To skip a discussion of        conversations or feel timid in the face
whispering an urgent command to “get          medication is to disregard a growing        of medical opinion; the data speak
professional help!” Psychotherapists are      reality that impacts on children            clearly about just how safe and effective
often the first stop for help—we, like        and their families. The Rx (medical         psychiatric drugs are for children. The
our clients, feel the pressure to solve the   prescription) elephant won’t go away        empirical evidence supporting the
problem rapidly with the best standard        just because we don’t talk about it.        benefit of child medication is far from
of care. And, more and more, that                Our reticence is mirrored in parents     substantial, while concerns about safety
standard has become synonymous with           and children who are reluctant to offer     continue to surface. Therapists can use
psychiatric medication.                       an opinion or ask a question about          this knowledge to confidently assist
   With daily pressure on therapists          other options or side effects. The end      with medication decisions—they can
to manage youth behaviour and                 result is that children, parents, and       help children and parents get the facts
emotional problems, the lure of a             therapists are often shut out of the        about risks and benefits, and make
quick fix is understandable, and              loop—their questions, ideas, and            clear the take-home message that there
drugs seem a ready-made solution.             solutions take a back seat. But how         are many paths to preferred ends.
But beyond referring families for             can therapists broach this topic—after         It is not our aim to discredit
psychiatric consultations, therapists         all, we are not medical experts, or as      individual preferences for or
are often hesitant to talk about              the joke goes, we are not ‘real’ doctors.   experiences with medication, or to

32        PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007
claim that psychiatric drugs are not            Explosion in the use of                        a psychiatrist is made and Jess is
ever helpful. We are not wide-eyed              psychotropic medication                        prescribed an antidepressant.
anti-drug zealots. Instead, we are              for children and teens                            Jess is not alone. The past decade
anti-privileging drugs as a first-line             Jess, a 15-year old girl enters school      has seen an explosion of psychotropic
solution—especially for children and            through the front door, proceeds down          medication prescriptions for children
adolescents. And while we are adamant           the hallway and out the back, another          and teens (Zito et al., 2003). In
about putting clients in charge of the          no-show for the day. Jess finds it             the United States prescriptions for
decision to medicate and have been              difficult to attend to classroom work,         antidepressants have increased at a
writing passionately about the lack             preferring to hang out with the pony           rate of 11 per cent each year from 1994
of demonstrated efficacy of drugging            she helps care for as a part-time job. At      to 2000, and five per cent each year
children for nearly ten years, we are           the school meeting, Jess’s mother states       since, a total of over eleven million
actually in the mainstream of current           that she found marks on her daughter’s         prescriptions written annually. The
scientific thinking, The American               arms, apparently self-inflicted with           number taking antipsychotic medicines
Psychological Association Working Group         her father’s pen knife. A referral to          soared 73 per cent in the four years
on Psychotropic Medications for Children
and Adolescents, 2006 states:
    ‘It is the opinion of this working group
that…the decision about which treatment
                                                      With daily pressure on therapists to manage
to use first…should be guided by the
balance between anticipated benefits
                                                       youth behaviour and emotional problems,
and possible harms of treatment choices…                the lure of a quick fix is understandable,
For most of the disorders reviewed herein,
there are psychosocial treatments that are               and drugs seem a ready-made solution.
solidly grounded in empirical support
as stand-alone treatments. Moreover,
the preponderance of available evidence
indicates that psychosocial treatments
are safer than psychoactive medications.
Thus, it is our recommendation
that in most cases, psychosocial
interventions be considered first’.
(p. 175, emphasis added)
    The report further points out:
    ‘Ultimately, it is the families’ decision
about which treatments to use and
in which order. A clinician’s role is to
provide the family with the most up-to-
date evidence, as it becomes available,
regarding short- and long-term risks
and benefits of the treatments.’ (p. 175)
    The APA is hardly an organization
known for going out on a limb or
taking risky liberties with the data!
This knowledge means that when
children experience difficulties,
discussions about solutions can be
open, creative, and evolving, and
encompass a range of views about
change based on each person’s
concerns, circumstances, and
preferences. While medication may
be useful for some children, it does
not have to dominate intervention
strategies or monopolize talk about
change. Therapists can expand the
range of options, and their clinical
roles, even in circumstances that
typically trigger prescriptions.
                                                                                Illustration: Shannon Rose

                                                                PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007           33
ending in 2005, far outpacing the          to neuro-imaging research as proof          Yeah…I told my mom about Nick (Jess’s
increase in adults—over 2.5 million        positive of the biology of behavioural      boyfriend). She knows we broke up.
youth in the US per year are prescribed    and emotional problems. A highly            Therapist: Is that what’s bothering you
antipsychotics (dosReis, Zito, Safer,      publicized study claimed to show            the most now?
Gardner, Puccia & Owens, 2005).            that the brains of ADHD-diagnosed           Jess: Yeah. That, and school sucks.
Spending on drugs like Ritalin for         children were smaller than their non-           Jess, her mom and the therapist
behavioural problems exceeds any other     ADHD counterparts (Castellanos et           talk about how Jess cuts herself to help
category for the first time, including     al., 2002). However, anatomy Professor      with the emotional hurt. They also
antibiotics. The number of kids taking     Jonathan Leo and researcher David           talk about Jess’s boredom with her
one or more prescription medicines to      Cohen report that the control group         classes and her desire to work more
treat mental health-related conditions     was two years older, heavier, and taller    to earn money and not ‘waste time’ at
has hit nearly nine per cent. If Jess      than the ADHD diagnosed children,           school. They listen to Jess and value
                                                                                       that she feels comfortable enough to
                                                                                       let them into her world. All agree that
       We are not wide-eyed anti-drug zealots.                                         the first order of business is for Jess to
                                                                                       be safe. Since Jess is adamant about
       Instead, we are anti-privileging drugs                                          not wanting medication, they agree to
                                                                                       set up a safety plan. The practitioner
         as a first-line solution—especially                                           ensures that Jess is the primary
                                                                                       architect of the plan, prompting her to
            for children and adolescents.                                              identify strategies that she believes will
                                                                                       work. Instead of cutting at night when
                                                                                       she felt down, Jess planned to listen to
lived in a foster home, she would be 16    undermining any conclusion about            music, get in her mom’s bed or call her
times more likely to be medicated; if      brain size and ADHD (Leo & Cohen,           friends. Jess writes the strategies down
the diagnosis ended up bipolar disorder    2003). Despite fifty years of efforts to    and signs an agreement to tell her mom
or ADHD, her chances of being on           find one, no reliable biological marker     or call the therapist if she feels like it is
more than one medication at the same       has ever emerged as the cause of any        not working.
time would be as much as 87 per cent       psychiatric ‘disease’.                          There are many ways to reach desired
(Duffy et al., 2005).                         Knowing there is no irresistible         ends. Not every child is Jess and not
    The push to medicate young people      scientific justification to medicate, the   every parent will react the same way.
is fueled partially by the belief that     therapist is free to put other options on   What will work can only be known one
problems are biological and require        the table and draw in the voices of Jess    child and one family at a time after an
medical intervention. Web pages,           and her mother.                             open consideration of options.
doctor’s office brochures, magazine        Mother: Jess, you can’t keep doing this.
                                                                                       Validity and reliability of
articles and TV advertisements             I don’t want you to hurt yourself.
                                                                                       psychiatric diagnosis
describe depression, ADHD,                 What’s wrong? What do you want?
mood swings, and the like as brain         Jess: (Shrugs shoulders and                    Michael, age 13, is home from
dysfunctions. Even when we know they       looks down.)                                residential treatment and recently
are promotions from drug companies,        Therapist: Jess, we just want to make       reunited with his mother who is
pictures of neurotransmitters or talking   sure you’re safe? What do you think         now attending regular Narcotics
serotonin cartoons are powerful, lasting   will help?                                  Anonymous meetings. When
images. This biological perspective is     Jess: I don’t know.                         confronted about his ‘clowning’
also backed up by impressive sounding         (Everyone just sits for a while.         in math class, Michael makes a
clinical studies. Social explanations      There is genuine puzzlement and             beeline for the door and is found
and solutions are not accorded the same    concern from everyone in the room—          hanging halfway up the flagpole
weight in the media as medical ones        there does not seem to be a way out o       like a frightened monkey. In short
and are a distant second when it comes     f the dilemma.)                             order, Michael’s diagnosis is changed
to research funding and marketing. As      Mother: Jess, do you want to take the       from ADHD to early onset bipolar
a result, claims are rarely questioned     medicine that Dr. Stevens gave you? He      disorder. His medication is changed
and the assumption that child and          said you were clinically depressed and      from stimulants to anticonvulsant and
adolescent problems have a biological      that it would help.                         antipsychotic medications.
basis has become accepted fact.            Jess: No! I don’t want to take any pills.      ‘Early onset bipolar disorder’ has an
    Cartoons notwithstanding,              I’ve got to do this myself.                 ominous ring to it. At first glance
biochemical imbalances and other           Mother: Okay.                               medication seems the most logical
so-called mind diseases remain the         Therapist: Jess, do you want to talk with   intervention for preventing a slide
only territory in medicine where           me and your mom, or maybe just one of us    into more distress and coping with
diagnoses are permitted without a          alone, about some of that stuff we talked   the disorder. Diagnosis, as the sole
single confirmatory test (Duncan,          about last week?                            gateway to medications, provides
Miller & Sparks, 2004). Many point         Jess: (after a lengthy pause, thinking)     the official rationale for medical

34        PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007
intervention. The belief that diagnosis           like the old ones, but these are even worse.   as making sense within the context of
can provide accurate identification of            Mom says I should take them, but they          the child’s life. And if medication is a
discreet disorders is a key assumption            make me feel weird!                            part of treatment, children can monitor
that underlies medication prescription.           Therapist: I saw what the doctor said in       whether medication is useful and, with
Therapists may feel that they have                the report he sent me. It says that it seems   the help of adults, can be in the driver’s
little choice but to assume that a                like your moods kind of go up and down.        seat in medication decisions.
diagnosis explains what is wrong                  Does that seem right to you?
                                                                                                 Are research findings on the
and provides a solution.                          Michael: Yeah. Kind of. I never know if
                                                                                                 effectiveness of psychotropic
    In spite of its widespread                    mom is going to, you know, go off again.
                                                                                                 medication reliable?
acceptance, the validity and reliability          It’s hard to sit there in class when I keep
of psychiatric diagnosis is suspect               thinking about that, so I just start joking       Six-year old Kyle, according to his
(Duncan et al, 2004; Sparks, Duncan               around. Then Mr. Riley gets on my case,        parents, ‘flies into a rage at the drop of a
& Miller, 2006). In particular,                   and I haven’t even done anything so I say      hat.’ They note that Kyle’s rages occur
diagnostic validity is questionable               ‘I’m outta here!’                              when playing with his three-year
when it comes to children. According              Therapist: Wow. That makes a lot of            old sister and they fear that he may
to the World Health Report, ‘Childhood            sense. No wonder you wanted to do              hurt her. Kyle’s mother shares with a
and adolescence being developmental               something to get that thought out of your      therapist her concern that Kyle might
phases, it is difficult to draw clear             mind for a while.                              have a mental illness and wonders
boundaries between phenomena that are             Michael: So, you mean I’m not crazy?           whether medication could help. When
part of normal development and others                 It was important for Michael to            parents hear that even young children
that are abnormal’ (World Health                  make sense of his own experience               can be mentally ill and that problems
Organization, 2001). The notion of                and actions, and to understand these           result from undiagnosed disorders, it
stable, fixed psychiatric syndromes               as reactions to stressful events. The          makes sense that they may adopt this
does not fit the fluctuations of child            therapist refused to allow the diagnosis       point of view when other explanations
development and adaptation to social              or his situation at home to get him            and options are not readily available.
environments—children change                      off the hook. They brainstormed                   The decision to pursue psychotropic
continually with age and context.                 ways that Michael could deal with              drugs is based largely on the belief that
     Reliability has to do with whether or        his stress without getting in trouble.         they work. People assume that Prozac
not clinicians looking at the same array          The therapist returned to the pills            and similar drugs are the intervention
of symptoms will come up with the                 because Michael expressed discomfort           of choice for child and adolescent
same diagnosis. If there is independent           with them. Referring to the outcome            depression, and that stimulant
agreement on a diagnosis amongst                  measure the therapist was using, the           medications are consistently effective
professionals, it is considered reliable.         practitioner suggested that Michael            for children labeled with ADHD.
Robert Spitzer, the primary architect             monitor his response to the medication         Pediatricians and family doctors also
of the DSM, commented on the ability              to determine whether it was working or         endorse such assumptions based on
of the DSM to provide consistent                  making him feel worse.                         published evidence from clinical trials.
agreement in clinical diagnosis: ‘To say              Instead of certain diagnoses                  The clinical trials most often cited
that we’ve solved the reliability problem         resulting in knee-jerk prescriptions,          for medication effectiveness include:
is just not true…It’s been improved. But          troubling behaviour can be validated           the two clinical trials that gained
if you’re in a situation with a general
clinician it’s certainly not very good. There’s
still a real problem, and it’s not clear how to
solve the problem’ (Spiegel, 2005, p. 63).
In other words, Michael might well be
diagnosed with depression if he were
seen by a different clinician, or may
not have received a diagnosis at all.
A bipolar diagnosis can last a lifetime;
out-of-the ordinary child behaviours
tend to be time-limited. Recognizing
the potential negative effects, the
American Counseling Association’s
Ethical Code supports counsellors who
refrain from making a diagnosis.
    Returning to Michael, consider the
therapist’s response to his diagnosis:
Therapist: Hey, Michael, how’s it going?
Michael: Not so good. The doctor says I
have some kind of…I forget. Anyway, he
gave me these new pills to take. I didn’t

                                                                   PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007               35
Prozac FDA approval for childhood           inactive pill takers easily, effectively       between medication and placebo
depression conducted by psychiatrist        un-blinding the study and skewing              groups tend to dissolve by 16 weeks.
researcher Graham Emslie of the             results. In support of this theory, a          Without longer term follow-ups,
University of Texas Southwestern            meta-analysis conducted by psychiatrist        researchers cannot make accurate
Medical Center and colleagues               researcher Joanna Moncrieff of the             conclusions about effectiveness in
(1997, 2002) (hereafter called the          University College of London found             everyday life. The Emslie studies were
Emslie studies); and the Multimodal         that when studies used active placebos,        of eight weeks duration, calling into
Treatment of ADHD (MTA)                     little or no differences were found            question their usefulness in real-world
examining the efficacy of Ritalin versus    between the dummy pill and the drug            decision making.
behavioural and combined intervention       (Moncrieff, Wessely & Hardy, 2004).               A key component of evaluating
(MTA Cooperative Group, 1999,               The Emslie studies used inactive, sugar        any drug trial is learning who
2004ab).                                    pill placebos drawing into question            paid for it and what the authors’
    The gold standard for research is       the integrity of the study’s double            potential conflicts of interest are. The
the randomized, double blind, placebo       blind. Evidence of the compromised             pharmaceutical industry’s influence
controlled trial. In this design, two       double blind were apparent in the drug         over scientific inquiry has, in some
groups are formed, presumably similar       manufacturer’s own records where               ways, become almost a cliché. In
since they are selected randomly from       ‘it was not uncommon to see notations          May of 2000, the editor of the New
the initial pool of applicants. One         defining the patient’s blinded treatment,      England Journal of Medicine, Marcia
group gets the drug being tested; the       or in some cases to find fluoxetine (Prozac)   Angell called attention to the problem
other, a placebo. In this design, neither   plasma concentration results’ (FDA,            of ‘ubiquitous and manifold…financial
study participants, researchers, nor        2001, June 25, p. 19).                         associations’ of authors to the companies
assisting clinicians, should know who            The instruments chosen as primary         whose drugs were being studied
is in which group—that is, who is           measures in drug trials are clinician-         (Angell, 2000, p. 1516). Why is it
taking the real drug and who is getting     rated. Frequently, client ratings of           important to know who sponsors a
the dummy pill. This helps eliminate        improvement differ from clinician’s,           study? One recent review (Heres,
the bias that comes when participants       often in ways that run counter to              Davis, Maino, Jetzinger, Kissling &
and researchers know who is in each         findings of drug effectiveness. In             Leucht, 2006) looked at published
group, and weeds out factors like hope      both clinical trials that resulted in          head-to-head comparisons of five
and expectancy that could interfere         FDA approval of Prozac, no client-             popular antipsychotic medications. In
with determining what is actually           rated measures indicated superiority           nine out of ten studies, the drug made
responsible for any differences found       of the drug over placebo. However,             by the company that sponsored the
between groups. The validity of the         both studies concluded that Prozac             study came out on top.
trial depends upon the ‘blindness’ of       outperformed placebo. How valid                   Without an appreciation of the
participants who rate the outcomes.         can an assessment of improvement               role industry influence plays in how
    However, most studies do not use        be if the client does not agree with           the study is designed, carried out,
active placebos—pills that mimic the        it? In the first Emslie study, two             and disseminated, it would be easy
effects of real drugs. Rather, they use     out of four clinician-rated measures           to accept bottom line conclusions as
inert sugar pills as the placebo which      indicated a difference between the             fact. However, recent regulations now
makes it possible for most participants     placebo and SSRI groups. Two client-           require authors to fully disclose their
and clinicians to tell who is getting       rated measures found no difference.            affiliations, allowing a more critical
the medication. Inert sugar pills, or       Similarly, the primary measure of              appraisal of any study’s conclusions.
inactive placebos, do not produce the       the second study failed to show a              The first Emslie study, published prior
standard side effect profile of actual      significant difference—all client-             to disclosure requirements, did not
drugs—dry mouth, weight loss or gain,       rated and two clinician-rated scales           identify author affiliations. However,
dizziness, headache, nausea, insomnia       showed no difference. Out of seven,            FDA data indicate that Eli Lilly
and so on. Study participants are likely    three clinician-rated measures showed          sponsored the study. The second and
to be on the alert for these types of       significant differences between the            approval-clinching trial of Prozac for
events and, since most have been on         experimental drug and placebo. If              child and adolescent depression lists
medications before, many are familiar       children and their parents do not              author affiliations on the first page.
with these effects. As a consequence,       detect improvement over placebo, how           Here, readers learn that Emslie is
these subjects are likely to identify       effective are the drugs?                       a paid consultant for Eli Lilly, who
correctly which group they are in               Standard time frames for clinical          funded the research and whose product
(Fisher & Greenberg, 1997; Sparks &         drug trials are 8 to 12 weeks. In              was being investigated. The remaining
Duncan, in press).                          contrast, most prescriptions for youth         authors are listed as employees of
    Researchers interview participants      psychiatric medication assume that the         Eli Lilly and ‘may own stock in that
throughout the study to collect             drug will be taken for much longer.            company’ (p. 1205). Combining this
information about change and side           Assessing how well a drug does in an           information with the ‘unblinding’
effects. On-going interviews that listen    8 to 12-week period cannot portray             that results from inactive placebos
for or are active in asking about side      an accurate picture of the drug’s              seriously calls into question whether
effects can reveal the active versus        performance in real life. Differences          the researchers, either employees or

36        PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007
consultants of the company whose drug         (the 7–9 year old children) rated          MTA authors have significant ties to
was under investigation could, with so        themselves as no more improved when        drug companies. Specifically, Jensen
much at stake, remain objective.              using medication than when using           is listed as a consultant to Novartis,
   Recent pooled analyses of both             behavioural or community alternatives.     the makers of Ritalin, the drug under
published and unpublished trials of           Of interest, peer ratings concurred        investigation in the MTA.
SSRIs for the under-18 age group              with this assessment. The fact that            When practitioners know what to
reveal that, as far as how well they          neither blinded classroom observers,       look for—does the study have a true
work, these drugs, plain and simple,          the children themselves, or their peers    double blind, are outcome measures
do not deserve a blank cheque. An             found that medication was better than      clinician or client rated, how long
                                                                                         did the study last, who funded the
                                                                                         study and what are the authors’
           The notion of stable, fixed psychiatric                                       industry affiliations—they realize that
                                                                                         medication should not be privileged
           syndromes does not fit the fluctuations                                       over other psychosocial options
                                                                                         (Sparks & Duncan, in press). Equipped
          of child development and adaptation to                                         with this information, therapists also
                                                                                         have a powerful method for evaluating
          social environments—children change                                            future studies without having to take
                                                                                         the word of the latest headline or sound
              continually with age and context.                                          byte on the evening news.
                                                                                             Kyle and his family are at a
                                                                                         crossroads. It would not be hard
analysis by researcher Jon Jureidini          behavioural interventions suggests that    to start down a path that saw his
found that, out of 42 reported measures       stimulant drugs offer no advantages        difficulty as the early signs of mental
in six published trials, only 14 showed       over non-medication alternatives.          illness. Through this lens, a proactive
a statistical advantage. None of the              With regard to time frames, the        approach might make sense, warding
youth and parent measures in this             MTA surpassed its predecessors             off a potential downward spiral before
sample indicated any advantage of             because it evaluated outcomes at 14        it becomes entrenched and intractable.
the drug over a sugar pill—only the           months instead of the customary 8–12       However, knowing also that such an
doctors reported improvement. They            weeks. The assessment occurred at          approach most likely means medication
also discovered that the effect size for      the 14-month endpoint while subjects       with its attendant risk and unproven
the drug over placebo was quite modest        were actively medicated. However,          efficacy, it also makes sense to explore
(0.26), amounting to only a 3 to 4 point      behavioural intervention had long since    other ways to understand and to resolve
difference on scales which had ranges         stopped—endpoint measures were             his and his family’s dilemma.
from 17 to 113 as possible scores. This       taken four to six months after the last    Therapist: I can certainly see that you
may be statistically significant, but fails   face-to-face contact. Thus, the endpoint   have some concerns here. I really appreciate
the test of clinical significance—that        MTA comparison was between                 how you’re trying to make sure that you
is, fails to tells us anything meaningful     active medication and withdrawn            know what’s going on so that you can take
about the client sitting in front of us,      behavioural intervention. This made        action sooner rather than later. Usually,
much less serve as a mandate, or ‘best        the comparison hardly a head-to-head       it’s a lot easier to head things off at this
practice’. Unpublished trials fared           contest, making the slight superiority     age, rather than wait until the child is 8 or
much worse—only one in nine showed            of medication (on 3 of 19 unblinded        9 when it is a lot harder.
a statistical advantage for the drug over     measures) a foregone conclusion. A         Mother: Exactly! That’s what we [with
placebo (Jureidini, Doecke, Mansfield,        24-month follow-up of the MTA              Kyle’s dad] thought too. That’s why I
Haby, Menkes & Tonkin, 2004).                 shows that the improvements of             wanted to speak to you. You know, since
    The Multimodal Treatment Study            children on medication deteriorated (up    we moved here, and the new baby came,
of Children with ADHD (MTA),                  to 50 per cent) while the behavioural      and starting the business and all, we
the major trial supporting the                intervention group retained their gains.   hardly have time to sleep.
superiority of ADHD medication,               All advantage of the combined group        Therapist: Well, it says a lot about you
not only didn’t use an active placebo,        over the behavioural intervention also     that you could make the time to get in
it lacked a pill placebo control group        dissipated (MTA, 2004a).                   here today!
altogether (MTA Cooperative Group,                Finally, consider the conflicts of     Mother: Thanks. What you said about
1999). As a consequence, it relied on         interest. For those studies conducted      doing something now rather than later,
evaluations made by teachers, parents,        before the disclosure requirement, a       did you think we should have him see a
and clinicians who were not blinded to        little sleuthing can help. An online       doctor, or have some kind of evaluation,
the intervention conditions. The only         database published by a non-profit         maybe some medication or something?
double-blind measurement (made by             health advocacy group (Integrity in        Therapist: Well, that is certainly
classroom raters) found no difference         Science, www.cspinet.org/integrity/)       something that could be done. But, we
among any of the intervention groups.         reveals that lead MTA investigator         don’t really know if that will be needed
In fact, the subjects themselves              Peter Jensen and at least five other       at this point. Most of the time, we can

                                                              PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007            37
work with the schools and also recommend      children are prescribed ‘off label’.         participants receiving Prozac in this
things at home, that can move things in       This means that the majority of drugs        study attempted suicide (FDA, 2001,
a better direction. Children of Kyle’s age    prescribed frequently do not have the        June 25).
typically respond well to behaviour plans.    requisite two clinical trials that show         After a review of published
We can observe what’s working for him         they are safe and effective. Included        and unpublished trials, the FDA
and what we can do to build in some           in off label medications are the new         issued a black box warning for
rewards for when things are going well.       antipsychotics and all anticonvulsants.      all antidepressants for children,
It would be helpful if you could do the       Additionally, there are no studies           alerting consumers and providers
same—see what is working or what isn’t        to support the efficacy or safety of         to increased risk of suicidality and
at home. Would you note the times that
Kyle is getting along with his sister and
when things are going well? (Mother
nods in agreement) If we can meet again
                                                    In both clinical trials that resulted in FDA
next week, we might have some better
ideas of what’s going on and where to go
                                                   approval of Prozac, no client-rated measures
with things. Does that make sense?                     indicated superiority of the drug over
Mother: Yes, it does. Problem is, his dad
and I are so busy, and the baby takes up             placebo. However, both studies concluded
so much of my time, we hardly pay much
attention to Kyle these days except to tell             that Prozac outperformed placebo.
him to do things, like get ready for bed or
to stop doing things. Come to think of it,
we don’t even have time to get him in         prescribing multiple medications. All        clinical worsening (FDA, October, 15,
bed like we used to, with his favorite        antidepressants, with the exception of       2004). The Medicines and Healthcare
game and story.                               Prozac, are prescribed off label for child   Products Regulatory Authority
    Kyle’s mother and the therapist           and adolescent depression. The window        (MHRA) in the United Kingdom took
detailed concrete steps that could            of approved drugs for children is very       it further, banning all antidepressants
be implemented at school and home.            narrow—more narrow than what                 (except Prozac, which can only be used
A follow-up meeting was scheduled             might justify the robust prescription        with children over eight years when
to review progress and develop a              rates. Even approved medications often       talk therapies have failed). Growth
behavioural plan based on the mother’s        have risks that are minimized in the         suppression and adverse cardiac effects
and the teacher’s observation of              decision-making process.                     have been noted as well (FDA, 2001,
what was working. Diagnosis and                  As the APA report noted, a                June 25; FDA, 2003, January 3).
medication, while not discounted,             thoughtful weighing of risk versus               ADHD drugs also have troubling
were not the primary discussion               benefit is at the heart of any medication    records when it comes to side effects.
topics. Instead, other ways to view           decision. Much of the data that has          Sixty four percent of the children
and address the problem emerged               been collected raises concern. A             in the MTA reported adverse drug
from a therapeutic partnership to             systematic evaluation of 82 medical          reactions: 11 per cent were rated
explore options.                              charts of children and adolescents           as moderate and three per cent as
                                              treated with SSRIs found that 22             severe. In March of 2006, an FDA
Safety
                                              per cent experienced some type of            safety advisory committee called for
    Jess’s mother was torn. On one            psychiatric adverse event (PAE),             stronger warnings on ADHD drugs,
hand, she feared for her daughter’s           typically a disturbance in mood              citing reports of serious cardiac risks,
life and would do whatever it took to         (Wilens, Biederman, Kwon, Chase,             psychosis or mania, and suicidality.
protect her. On the other, she was leery      Greenberg & Mick , 2003). Estimates          Stimulant medications have also been
of medications and, in particular, ones       of PAEs in child and adolescent              associated with increased emergency
not approved for children. Michael            studies is complicated by inconsistent       room visits. A recent study conducted
was placed on an antipsychotic and an         collection methods for side effects          by the U. S. Centers for Disease
anticonvulsant. All he knew was that          data, and benign or misleading               Control and Prevention found
he didn’t feel right. His teacher noted       assessments of data actually reported.       that thousands of children taking
that Michael no longer disrupted class,       In the first Emslie study, six per cent      stimulants wind up in the ER with
but instead put his head on the desk a        of participants taking Prozac dropped        chest pain, stroke, high blood pressure,
good portion of the day. Many popular         out due to manic reactions compared          fast heart rate, and overdose (Johnson,
drugs are viewed as safe for children.        with two per cent in the placebo             2006, May 25). Finally, the MTA
However, safety is often tied to a            group. If extrapolated to the general        also revealed that the average height
lesser-of-two-evils argument. Many are        population, for every 100,000 children       suppression for older children was
willing to accept certain risks when the      on Prozac, as many as 6,000 might            about 1 cm per year, while younger
possible alternative is a child’s school      be expected to experience this serious       children averaged 1.4 cm per year
failure, drug abuse, crime or suicide.        adverse effect. In addition, according       height loss with a 20 per cent reduction
    Most psychiatric medications for          to FDA documents, at least two               in growth rate.

38         PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007
Children like Michael, diagnosed              systematic feedback on an outcome            C. L., Walter, J. M., Zijdenbos, A., Evans,
with pediatric bipolar disorder, are             measure that is understood easily            A. C., Giedd, J. N. & Rapoport, J. L. (2002).
                                                                                              Developmental trajectories of brain volume
taking antipsychotic medications in              by all (like the Child Outcome               abnormalities in children and adolescents
record numbers (Duffy et al., 2005;              Rating Scale—free download                   with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Staller, Wade, & Baker, 2005). Side              at www.talkingcure.com.) If                  JAMA, 288(14), 1740––1748.
effects for these drugs in adults are            medication is part of the plan,              dosReis. S., Zito, J. M., Safer, D. J.,
well known, including irreversible               invite the youth and others to               Gardner, J. F., Puccia, K. B., Owens,
movement disorders, obesity and the              monitor the effects and use the              P. L. (2005). Multiple psychotropic
risk of diabetes. Given that one in five         results as a basis for discussion            medication use for youths: a two-state
visits to a psychiatrist by a young person       with medical professionals. Invite           comparison. Journal of Child & Adolescent
                                                                                              Psychopharmacology, 15(1), 6877.
results in an antipsychotic prescription,        the youth and others to view
a six-fold increase in recent years, it’s        positive change as resulting from            Duncan, B., Miller, S., & Sparks, J. (2004).
hard not to be alarmed at what these             their efforts—‘Given that some               The Heroic Client. San Francisco:
                                                                                              Jossey-Bass.
risks might mean for children (Olfson,           take meds and they don’t work, how
Blanco, Liu, Moreno & Laje, 2006).               is it that you made them work for            Duffy, F. F., Narrow, W. E., Rae, D. S., &
                                                                                              West, J. C., Zarin, D. A., Rubio-Stipec,
                                                 you?’ These kinds of questions
Conclusion                                                                                    M., Pincus, H. A. & Reiger, D. A. (2005).
                                                 encourage people to take ownership           Concomitant pharmacotherapy among
    The decision of whether or not               for successful outcomes.                     youths treated in routine psychiatric
to medicate a child is one of the               Lack of critical awareness takes              practice. Journal of Child and Adolescent
most difficult any family can face. A        on greater weight where children                 Psychopharmacology, 15(1), 12–25.
medical path is always a choice, and         are concerned because children trust             Emslie, G. J., Heiligenstein, J. H.,
its pros and cons can be explored with       adults to make good decisions on                 Wagner, K. D., Hoog, S. L., Ernest, D. E.,
medical and non-medical professionals.       their behalf. We hope that knowing               Brown, E., Nilsson, M. & Jacobson, J. G.
Therapists can feel free to shed their       about the APA recommendations,                   (2002). Fluoxetine for acute treatment of
timidity and discuss openly the risks                                                         depression in children and adolescents:
                                             the lackluster empirical support for             A placebo-controlled, randomized clinical
and benefits of medication, with the         drugging children as a first-line                trial. Journal of the American Academy of
knowledge that there is empirical            intervention, and the attendant safety           Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(10),
support for psychosocial intervention        risks has bolstered your confidence to           1205–1215.
as a first line approach. The following      talk about medication, raise concerns            Emslie, G.J., Rush, A.J., Weinberg, W. A.,
are recommendations for engaging             about robotic prescription practices and         Kowatch, R. A., Hughes, C. W., Carmody,
clients as central partners in developing    side effects, and offer alternatives. An         T. C. & Rintelmann, J. R. (1997). A double-
solutions—medical or non-medical—            awareness of the relationship between            blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
that fit each child and each situation.                                                       of fluoxetine in children and adolescents
                                             a profit-driven industry and science,            with depression. Archives of General
 • Gather input from multiple sources        and what that science actually reveals,          Psychiatry, 54(11), 1031–1037.
     including the child, parents,           enables therapists to assist families
     teachers, school records, and                                                            Fisher, S., & Greenberg, R. P. (1997). From
                                             to make intervention decisions—not               Placebo to panacea: Putting psychiatric
     other community care-givers.            only permitting a fuller picture from            drugs to the test. New York: Wiley.
 • Develop multiple frameworks               which to construct solutions, but also
     of understanding the problem                                                             Heres, S., Davis, J., Maino, K., Jetzinger,
                                             an appreciation that a child constantly          E., Kissling, W., & Leucht, S. (2006). Why
     based on the perspectives of the        changes with the ebb and flow of life,           Olanzapine beats Risperidone, Risperidone
     youth, parents, teachers, and           and is indeed like a river. You cannot           beats Quetiapine, and Quetiapine beats
     significant others. Include             step in the same river twice.                    Olanzapine: An exploratory analysis
     developmental, familial and                                                              of head-to-head comparison studies
     environmental explanations.             References                                       of second-generation antipsychotics.
                                                                                              American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(2),
 • Develop a concrete plan of action.        American Psychological Association
                                                                                              185–194.
                                             Working Group on Psychoactive
     If medication is part of the plan,
                                             Medications for Children and Adolescents.        Johnson, L. A. (2006, May 25). ADHD
     make sure that all involved,            (2006). Report of the working group on           drugs linked to scores of ER visits. Chicago
     including the youth, are aware of       psychoactive medications for children &          Tribune, p. 6.
     potential risks, adverse events, the    adolescents. Psychopharmacological,
                                                                                              Jureidini, J. N., Doecke, C. J., Mansfield,
     meaning of off label prescription,      psychosocial, and combined interventions
                                             for childhood disorders: Evidence base,          P. R., Haby, M. M., Menkes, D. B., &
     and the lack of studies supporting                                                       Tonkin, A. I. (2004). Efficacy and safety
                                             contextual factors and future directions.
     combining medications. Suggest          Washington, DC: American Psychological           of antidepressants for children and
     resources for obtaining additional      Association. Retrieved Sept. 22, 2006 from       adolescents. British Medical Journal,
     information about risks and             http://www.apa.org/pi/cyf/childmeds.pdf.         328, 879–883.
     benefits. Include discussion of a       Angell, M. (2000). Is academic medicine          Leo, J., & Cohen, D. (2003). Broken brains
     time frame for discontinuation          for sale? The New England Journal of             or flawed studies? A critical review of ADHD
     of medication.                          Medicine, 341(20), 1516–1518.                    neuromimaging research. The Journal of
                                                                                              Mind and Behavior, 24(1), 29–56.
 • Work with the child, parents,             Castellanos, F. X., Lee, P. P., Sharp, W.,
     teachers and others to implement        Jeffries, N. O., Greenstein, D. K., Clasen, L.   Moncrieff, J., Wessely, S., Hardy, R. (2004).
     the plan and modify it based on         S., Blumenthal, J. D., James, R. S., Ebens,      Active placebo versus antidepressants for

                                                               PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007                     39
depression. The Cochrane Database of             Sparks, J. A. & Duncan, B. L. (in press).      U. S. Food and Drug Administration
Systematic Review: The Cochrane Library,         Do no harm: A critical risk/benefit analysis   (2004, October 15). FDA launches a
2, Oxford: Update Software.                      of child psychotropic medication. Journal of   multi-pronged strategy to strengthen
                                                 Family Psychotherapy.                          safeguards for children treated with
MTA Cooperative Group. (2004a) 24-month
                                                                                                antidepressant medications. Retrieved
outcomes of treatment strategies for             Sparks, J. Duncan, B. & Miller, S.(2006).
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attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder         Integrating psychotherapy and
                                                                                                bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01124.html
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                                                 17, 83–108.                                    Chase, R., Greenberg, L. & Mick, E. (2003).
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  AUTHOR NOTES

  BARRY DUNCAN, Psy.D. is co-director of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change.
  Dr. Duncan is the author or co-author of over one hundred publications, including fourteen books.
  The latest: The Heroic Client (Jossey Bass, 2004), Brief Intervention for School Problems (Guilford, 2007),
  and the self-help book, What’s Right With You (HCI, 2005).
  JACQUELINE A. SPARKS, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Family Therapy in the Department of
  Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Rhode Island. She is co-author of The
  Heroic Client (2004) and Heroic Clients, Heroic Agencies (ISTC Press, 2002). Her numerous publications
  and trainings advocate for a transformation of ‘business as usual’ in mental health to put clients at
  the forefront of their own change.
  JOHN J. MURPHY Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Arkansas (US), is an
  internationally recognized author and trainer on collaborative approaches with young people and
  school problems. He has authored (with Barry Duncan) the recent book, Brief Intervention for School
  Problems: Outcome-Informed Strategies.
  SCOTT D. MILLER, Ph.D. is co-director of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change, a private
  group of clinicians and researchers dedicated to studying ‘what works’ in mental health and substance
  abuse treatment. As a therapist he provides clinical services pro bono to traditionally under-served
  clients. He is author or co-author of numerous articles and books: Escape from Babel, (with Barry
  Duncan & Mark Hubble, 1997), The Heart and Soul of Change (with Mark Hubble & Barry Duncan,
  1999), The Heroic Client (with Barry Duncan & Jacqueline Sparks, Revised, 2004), and the forthcoming
  Making Treatment Count: Outcome-Informed Treatment (with Michael J. Lambert & Bruce Wampold).
  For more information and recent articles visit www.talkingcure.com
  Comments: barrylduncan@comcast.net

40         PSYCHOTHER APY IN AUSTR ALIA • VOL 13 NO 4 • AUGUST 2007
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