Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
05:52

Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis

Published on: November 21, 2013

Trends in antipsychotic drug use by very young, privately insured children

Mark Olfson1, Stephen Crystal, Cecilia Huang

  • 1Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. mo49@columbia.edu

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|March 11, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Antipsychotic use in young children doubled between 1999-2001 and 2007, yet mental health service access remained limited. This highlights a need for better integrated mental health care for children with serious mental health problems.

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Pediatric Mental Health
  • Pharmacological Interventions

Background:

  • Antipsychotic medication use in young children is a growing concern.
  • Understanding trends in treatment is crucial for pediatric mental health care.
  • Recent data on antipsychotic prescription patterns in this age group is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze recent trends and patterns in antipsychotic treatment for privately insured children aged 2-5 years.
  • To compare antipsychotic use between 1999-2001 and 2007.
  • To identify demographic and diagnostic factors associated with antipsychotic use.

Main Methods:

  • Trend analysis of antipsychotic medication use from 1999-2001 to 2007.
  • Utilized a large administrative database of privately insured individuals.
  • Analyzed data from over 400,000 children in the earlier period and over 750,000 in 2007, adjusting for age, sex, and diagnosis.

Main Results:

  • Annualized rates of antipsychotic use per 1,000 children increased from 0.78 to 1.59.
  • Significant increases observed in both boys and girls across various psychiatric diagnoses.
  • Common diagnoses included pervasive developmental disorder, ADHD, and disruptive behavior disorder; less than half received mental health assessments or psychotherapy.

Conclusions:

  • Antipsychotic use in very young children has significantly increased.
  • Formal mental health service provision remains inadequate for these children.
  • There is a critical need for improved, integrated mental health care for young children with serious mental health conditions.
Abstract

Related Concept Videos

Drug Therapy01:28

Drug Therapy

The advent of drug therapy has profoundly shaped modern mental health care, providing targeted treatments for a range of psychological disorders. Psychotherapeutic drugs, classified into antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medications, address symptoms across anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. While these medications have transformed patient outcomes, they require careful management due to their potential side effects and limitations.
Antianxiety Medications
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion01:26

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion

In pediatric medicine, understanding the renal function and drug elimination nuances is crucial for administering safe and effective treatments. Newborns, in particular, display markedly slower renal functions than adults, profoundly affecting how drugs are cleared from their bodies. This slower drug clearance requires clinicians to extend the dosing intervals for many medications to prevent drug accumulation and toxicity while ensuring therapeutic efficacy.One key area where these adjustments...
Antipsychotic Drugs: Typical and Atypical Agents01:21

Antipsychotic Drugs: Typical and Atypical Agents

Antipsychotic drugs are classified into first-generation (typical) drugs including phenothiazines; and second-generation (atypical) drugs. Chlorpromazine hydrochloride (Thorazine), a phenothiazine derivative, broadly impacts the central, autonomic, and endocrine systems. This drug, along with typical agents like haloperidol (Haldol), primarily works by antagonizing D2 receptors, thus reducing dopaminergic neurotransmission. However, typical antipsychotics can cause side effects such as sedation...
Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs01:02

Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs

Prescription drugs require a prescription from a medical practitioner and can only be obtained from a pharmacy. They have many applications, including treating pain, anxiety, and hypertension.
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
Drug Dosing: Infants and Children01:29

Drug Dosing: Infants and Children

Pediatric patient dosages diverge from adults due to disparities in body surface area, total body water, and extracellular fluid per kilogram of body weight. The dosing regimen considers the variations in pharmacokinetics and pharmacology across distinct age groups, encompassing preterm newborns, infants, young children, older children, and adolescents. Calculation of pediatric patient doses is predicated on determining body surface area, which exhibits a superior correlation with the child's...
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption01:23

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption

Understanding the physiological differences in the pediatric population is crucial for effective pharmacotherapy. Neonates, infants, and children exhibit significant variations in gastric pH, gastric emptying time, intestinal transit time, and biliary function. These variations profoundly affect oral drug absorption, necessitating a nuanced approach to pediatric dosing.Neonates present with a unique physiological profile, having a gastric pH greater than 4 and faster and more irregular gastric...