March 26, 2026
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Research suggests that children with ADHD are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, but a new study says that heightened risk is not related to medication.
Children who received certain types of medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder at a young age may be less likely to develop mental health disorders with psychosis later in life, a new study found.
Previous research identified a link between prescribing stimulants for the treatment of ADHD and the development of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at older ages. But the new study, published Wednesday, suggests that methylphenidate, the stimulant in the ADHD medications Ritalin and Concerta, actually may have a protective effect.
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Specifically, the study found that children with ADHD who took the stimulant were no more likely to develop a psychotic disorder than children with ADHD who were not prescribed it. Long-term treatment with the medication for three or four years, starting under age 13, was associated with a reduced risk.
About 7 million children ages 3 to 17 in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD, according 2022 statistics from the National Institutes of Health. About 3.5 million of those children are prescribed ADHD medication.
The study analyzed data from health records from 4,000 children in Finland with ADHD. It did not involve amphetamines, used in Adderall and Vyvanse, which are more commonly prescribed to adults with ADHD.
A previous study found that people prescribed amphetamines for ADHD have a higher risk of developing psychosis.
But the reasons why children prescribed methylphenidate may have lower rates of psychotic disorders later are unclear.
"We know that when children with ADHD are followed into adulthood, a small but significant minority develop psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia," the study's lead author, Ian Kelleher, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told EuroNews. "A critical question has been whether ADHD medication causes that risk, or whether this is a case where correlation does not equal causation. Our findings suggest the medication itself is not driving that risk."
But Dr. Christian Kohler, professor of psychiatry at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News that the study does not rule out a possible association between methylphenidate and the development of psychosis in older age groups.
