Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for developing comorbid non-bipolar mood disorders. Fluoxetine monotherapy is an established treatment for pediatric mood disorders; however its efficacy in ADHD and comorbid mood disorder is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated 30 children who met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and comorbid non-bipolar mood disorders in a prospective, 6-12-week open-label, study of fluoxetine monotherapy. Fluoxetine was associated with significant decreases in the severity of depressive symptoms, and also, associated with significant decreases on subscales of inattention/overactivity and aggression/defiant symptoms-47% of participants were much or very much improved without observed adverse effects.

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The purpose of this open-label study was to evaluate the use of olanzapine in the treatment of children and adolescents with schizophrenia. Sixteen children who were 8-17 years of age and met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia were admitted into a 10-week, open-label, optimizing dose study of olanzapine. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI)-Severity/Improvement scales were used to assess improvement during the study. Of the 16 subjects who completed the study, 12 demonstrated significant improvement on end of treatment BPRS, CGI, and PANSS scores compared with baseline. Male subjects showed greater improvement and also gained more weight. Weight gain occurred in all but 2 subjects. Weight gain was significant, with patients averaging a gain of about 6.2 kg during the 6-week course of the study. Two of the subjects experienced extrapyramidal symptoms. The average dose of olanzapine for all subjects was 0.17 mg/kg.