New research has discovered that 1 in 4 teens in US high schools report that they have abused attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prescriptions for non-medical reasons.

The lead author of the study, Sean Esteban McCabe, and director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, and Health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, explained, “This is the first national study to look at the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants by students in middle and high school, and we found a tremendous, wide range of misuse,” 

Conducted between 2005 and 2020, and published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study researched drug and alcohol use among school students across the US yearly since 1975.

A CDC report demonstrates that some schools reported that more than 25% of students had abused the drugs, which surged after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and which McCabe called "a major wake-up call.”

As clarified by pediatrician Dr. Deepa Camenga, associate director of pediatric programs at the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, teens often overuse the medication that "someone gave them due to a sense of stress around academics — they are trying to stay up late and study or finish papers,” adding that it is clearly a phenomenon in colleges, but the major breakthrough in research is that it is occurring in schools among teens. 

Schools with more White students most affected 

According to the study, schools with students who had typically one or more college-graduate parents showed higher rates of misuse, and the same goes for schools with more White students and those with medium levels of binge-drinking students. 

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Additionally, adolescents who had previously used ADHD medications currently were 2.5% more likely to have misused them, as opposed to those who have never been prescribed it. 

"But these findings were not being driven solely by teens with ADHD misusing their medications,” McCabe stated, adding: “We still found a significant association, even when we excluded students who were never prescribed ADHD therapy."

Between 2020 and 2021, a surge of Adderall was witnessed across the US, being one of the most popular ADHD drugs, which left many patients unable to refill prescriptions.

Experts reveal that improper use of the drugs can lead to potential anxiety, depression, psychosis and seizures. However, if combined with alcohol or other substances, side effects may include “paranoia, dangerously high body temperatures, and an irregular heartbeat, especially if stimulants are taken in large doses or in ways other than swallowing a pill,” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Parents' neglect plays a huge role

On the bright side, children prescribed ADHD medications and are using them properly, may witness effective treatment since Dr. Camenga says they are “protective for the health of a child... those adolescents diagnosed and treated correctly and monitored do very well — they have a lower risk of new mental health problems or new substance use disorders.”

Since there are children who are in fact in need of the medications, McCabe stresses that limiting the use will not help but the responsibility here falls on the parents. 

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“Instead, we need to look very long and hard at school strategies that are more or less effective in curbing stimulant medication misuse,” he warned, suggesting that they can make sure that their children's schools have safe storage for medication and strict dispensing policies. 

“You’d be surprised how many kids do not know what to say,” McCabe said, explaining that parents can talk to their children about how to approach peers that offer the pills for an all-night study session. “Parents can role-play with their kids to give them options on what to say so they are ready when it happens.”

“Finally, if parents suspect any type of misuse, they should contact their child’s prescriber right away,” McCabe said. “That child should be screened and assessed immediately.”