Divorce Increases Risk of Ritalin Use

Children whose parents have gotten a divorce are at higher risk of Ritalin use than children whose parents remain together. Dr. Strohschein, a sociologist at the University of Alberta, found that the risk is twice as high for children whose parents divorce.

Ritalin is a drug that is commonly prescribed for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A previous study showed that living in a single-parent household put children at a higher risk for Ritalin use. However, this did now show that divorce would increase Ritalin use because there are other ways that a child might end up in a single-parent home.

Strohschein said to Scientific Blogging, "So the question was, 'is it possible that divorce acts as a stressful life event that creates adjustment problems for children, which might increase acting out behavior, leading to a prescription for Ritalin.'" She was curious about what was causing the increase in prescriptions to children for Ritalin over the past two decades.

She used data from a longitudinal survey that was conducted between 1994 and 2000. Five thousand children that lived in two-parent households and did not use Ritalin were interviewed. Between 1994 and 2000, 13.2 percent of these kids experienced the divorce of their parents. The percentage of children using Ritalin was 3.3 percent for children who stayed married and 6.6 percent for kids whose parents got a divorce. This follows the previous research that showed children in single-family households were more likely to use Ritalin and adds on the fact that parental divorce puts them at an even greater risk.

It is possible that the stress from divorce causes mental health problems that actually require the prescription of Ritalin. However, Strohschein suggests another possibility. Since ADHD has a genetic component, it could be likely that parents who pass on the gene are more likely to divorce. Personality features that lead to divorce might be connected to the gene that transfers ADHD onto their offspring. Another possible explaination is that parents who are going through a divorce may expect their child to develop some problems and me more likely to bring them to a doctor just to be safe. This might make those doctors more likely to diagnose a problem or see a problem that isn't there and then prescribe Ritalin for it.

Strohschein wants to educate parents and doctors that children will not necessarily develop a mental health problem after divorce. She believes that only children who really need it should be prescribed medications like Ritalin.

News. Divorce increases risk of Ritalin use. Scientific Blogging. http://www.scientificblogging.com/news/divorce_increases_risk_of_ritalin_use