Kids given ADHD drugs could simply be immature compared to peers: research

KINDERGARTEN students being medicated for ADHD may simply be paying for starting school at a younger age than some of their classmates.

Little Children Hands doing Fingerpainting Picture: Supplied

KINDERGARTEN students being medicated for ADHD may simply be paying for starting school at a younger age than some of their classmates.

The children could instead be suffering from a “developmental immaturity” rather than a mental disorder, new research suggests.

The study found students born in June — the last month recommended for school intake — were about twice as likely to have received medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than their classmates born the previous July.

Paula Burgess, pictured with son Jesse, said the results could reflect a “developmental immaturity”

It also found boys were slightly more likely to be medicated for ADHD than girls.

Researchers from Western Australia’s Curtin University analysed data from more than 300,000 schoolchildren for the study, which was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

“Similar findings in North America indicated that developmental immaturity is mislabelled as a mental disorder and unnecessarily treated with stimulant medication,” the study says.

“This indicates that, even at relatively low rates of prescribing, there are significant concerns about the validity of ADHD as a diagnosis.”

NSW Health advises that ADHD is a “chronic condition characterised by excessive levels of inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behaviour”.

Its statistics reveal just 0.1 per cent of the state’s population is medicated for ADHD by the age of four, a number which climbs steadily to peak at 1.8 per cent at age 10.

“It is a real struggle for parents, it’s really frustrating.”

Five-year-old boys were five times as likely to be medicated than their female classmates, according to 2012 data.

Paula Burgess, who founded the nationwide parent support and ADHD advocacy group Beyond the Maze, said the results could reflect a “developmental immaturity” in some cases but that it would be upsetting to hear for parents with kids who had a genuine struggle with the condition.

“Unfortunately, anything written about ADHD generally has a negative slant on it and parents take that personally,” Ms Burgess said.

“It is a real struggle for parents, it’s really frustrating.”

Northern NSW mum Natalie Dreha-Houghton said she though the research discounted the science behind an ADHD diagnosis.

And having been diagnosed with the disorder herself and with a child who also has ADHD, she urged parents to always get a second opinion before turning to medication.

“Doctors know exactly where ADHD is in the brain,” Ms Dreha-Houghton said.

“It’s been written about in medical journals since the 1700s.”

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