The Effects of ADHD Medication on Children and Adolescents' Academic and Criminal Outcomes

In 2011 nearly 11% of children 4-17 years of age (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) yet little evidence exists on the effects of ADHD medication treatment. This paper uses diagnosing provider prescribing behaviors as an instrumental variable to estimate the causal effects of ADHD medication treatment on children and adolescent educational and criminal outcomes. We show that the diagnosing provider prescribing behavior significantly determines the probability a child takes ADHD medication treatment. The results suggest that ADHD medication treatment has negative effects on adolescents’ academic performance yet reduces the likelihood of delinquency. We attribute these findings to the sedative effects of ADHD medication. Specifically, we find that ADHD medication is associated with lower average standardized test scores for grades 3 through 8 and an increase in the probability that a child repeats a grade. Finally, we observe ADHD medication reduces the probability that middle school and high school students commit crime measured by enrollment in a Department of Correction or Department of Juvenile Justice school.