Acute Effects of Stimulant Medication in College Students With ADHD
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2021-06-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The investigators will examine the acute effects of stimulant medication on executive
functioning. The rationale for the proposed study is to examine the efficacy of stimulants
for college students with ADHD and help prevent stimulant misuse among college students
without ADHD. The working hypothesis is that stimulants, compared to baseline and placebo
conditions, will improve executive functioning for college students with ADHD but not for
college students without ADHD. Improvements on executive functioning measures (e.g., CPT-IP,
Spatial Span) will be examined through 2 (ADHD vs. non-ADHD) x 3 (Baseline, Placebo,
Stimulant) repeated measures ANOVAs. Follow-up analyses will include paired comparisons.
Expected outcomes are to confirm these hypotheses and demonstrate the need for further study
of stimulants. If confirmed, the results will provide pilot data for a larger NIH grant
proposal aimed at further examining the acute effects of stimulants (i.e., improved cognitive
functioning with stimulants) and comparing them to the acute effects of physical exercise
(i.e., improved cognitive functioning immediately after exercise). The investigators expect
this outcome to have an important positive impact because it can help support stimulant
medication as an effective treatment for college students with ADHD (DuPaul et al., 2012).
Additionally, demonstration that stimulants do not improve executive functioning for college
students without ADHD can be used to help prevent and discourage stimulant misuse and
diversion on college campuses (Hartung et al., 2013).