Disadvantaged children more likely to be doped with antipsychotic drugs: study

DISADVANTAGED children are being doped up to keep them calm in class, with boys and teenagers from single-parent families most at risk, psychiatrists have warned.

TROUBLED children are being doped up to keep them calm in class, psychiatrists have warned.

A new study says boys and teens from unemployed single-parent families are more likely to be given antipsychotic drugs than other children.

Study leader Amy Kaim, from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, said such young males were more likely to have ­repeated a year, and their ­parents were more likely to have complained of behavioural difficulties.

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“A larger proportion of children and teens taking the medication were boys in lower-income families with an unemployed primary caregiver, who were living in single-parent households,” she said.

“These findings strengthen the evidence that children from disadvantaged families are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics, use more psychological services and have worse health and educational outcomes.”

Children from disadvantaged families are likely to experience poorer health outcomes themselves.

Ms Kaim said the study identified risk factors linked to children being prescribed antipsychotic medication at higher rates than others.

“The risk factors were being a child or teen in a family that was dealing with stressful life events and financial difficulties. Other risk factors include parenting practices … and whether parents themselves were in psychological distress.

“The social and emotional wellbeing of the individual child and their approach to learning could also compound those risks,” she said, noting the study would monitor the children and teens’ use of medication during adolescence and into adulthood.

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“We hope that our study will contribute to a growing recognition of the need to look at the social factors which influence kids’ mental health, rather than resorting to antipsychotics for the treatment of behavioural problems in ­Australian children and ­adolescents.”

The study will be presented to the annual congress of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in Auckland this week.

RANZCP president Dr Kym Jenkins said: “This study is a strong reminder of the importance of considering social and psychological facts, in particular in child and adolescent mental health.”

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Originally published as Disadvantaged children more likely to be doped with antipsychotic drugs: study