Treating ADHD and Comorbid Disorders Psychosocial and Psychopharmacological Interventions

Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently experience co-occurring problems with aggression, mood swings, tics, anxiety, or depression. Organized around detailed case presentations, this highly informative book helps the clinician make sound decisions when assessing and treating the full range of ADHD comorbidities. Experienced child psychiatrist Steven Pliszka offers straightforward guidance on how to avoid common diagnostic errors, develop an individualized medication regimen, minimize health risks and side effects, collaborate successfully with parents, and tailor psychosocial treatments to each family's needs. A reproducible structured interview facilitates sorting out symptoms and distinguishing between different comorbid disorders. This book will be crucial for clinicians who treat children with ADHD, including clinical psychologists, child psychiatrists, social workers, pediatricians, and school psychologists. It may also serve as a text in clinically oriented graduate courses and residency programs.

Steven R. Pliszka, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he serves as Chief of the Department of Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Pliszka has been involved in numerous clinical trials of psychopharmacological agents in the treatment of ADHD, as well as bipolar disorder of childhood. Recent research activities include the neuroimaging of stimulant response in patients with ADHD and the study of mood-stabilizing medication in the treatment of aggression. Dr. Pliszka personally cares for over 500 children with ADHD, developmental disabilities, and other psychiatric disorders; he also teaches psychopharmacology and neurobiology to medical students and psychiatry residents. He was the principal author of the Practice Parameters of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. He is currently the principal investigator for Services Uniting Pediatrics and Psychiatry Outreaching to Texas (SUPPORT), a state-funded initiative to increase the availability of mental health services to children in the Medicaid program by placing mental health professionals in pediatric primary care offices.

1. Overview of Comorbid Disorders in ADHD 2. Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorders 3. Impulsive Aggression 4. Bipolar Disorder 5. Depressive Disorders 6. Anxiety Disorders 7. Tic and Obsessive–Compulsive Disorders 8. Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorders Appendix IA: Structured Clinical Interview for Parents Appendix IB: Child and Adolescent Clinician Interview Appendix II: Brief Update on Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology