Use of Psychotropic Medications in Special Education Students with Serious Emotional Disturbance

Abstract

The three-year usage of psychotropic medication was investigated for the first time in elementary school students classified by the special education category serious emotional disturbance. Almost 40% of the original 89 students were on a medication at baseline, primarily stimulants (26%), and multiple medications were not common (17%). Over the three time points of followup, 52% of the constant 54 students used a medicine at least once, principally stimulants followed by, in descending order, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and Clonidine. The order of distribution was constant at each point of follow-up. Only 24% received a medication at all three time points (rarely the same specific medicine), and only 9% received therapy at each time. Overall, 41% of the ongoing students received no medication or therapy over the course of the study. The medication needs, as well as the therapy needs, of this highly dysfunctional group of students appear unmet.

Psychotropic Medication Characteristics for Special Education Students with Emotional and/or Behavioral Disorders

“…The large majority of the students (75.9%) were taking a psychotropic medicine, including 56.2% who were taking two or more medicines. These findings were double the findings in the earlier study of such students (Mattison 1999). One likely reason was that these special education students were in residential programs for seriously dysfunctional youth rather than in public school programs for those with less dysfunction at school and/or home.…”

“…Basic annual measures of school function were collected at the end of the school year (Mattison 2004b). They consisted of final grade point average (GPA) in major subjects (0-100 with, e.g., 70-79 = ''C''), total days absent, total written office disciplinary referrals without subsequent suspension (DR), and total out-of-school suspensions (OSS).…”

“…The most recent study (Mattison 1999) investigated psychotropic usage from 1993 to 1996 in 89 elementary school students classified as having serious emotional disturbance who were in either self-contained classes (52%) or a self-contained school (48%). At baseline, 38.2% of the participants were receiving a psychotropic medication, with 16.8% taking more than one medication.…”

“…(Mattison 1999), the most recent study of such students, although in a residential setting (Ryan et al 2008), and a recent study of usage in outpatient youth in the same state of New York (Staller et al 2005). The most direct comparison is with an earlier sample of students in elementary school who were classified as having serious emotional disturbance, half of whom were in an SCS (Mattison 1999).…”

“…(Mattison 1999), the most recent study of such students, although in a residential setting (Ryan et al 2008), and a recent study of usage in outpatient youth in the same state of New York (Staller et al 2005). The most direct comparison is with an earlier sample of students in elementary school who were classified as having serious emotional disturbance, half of whom were in an SCS (Mattison 1999). The current finding for overall medication use of 77.9% is double what was found in this earlier study (38.2%), and, therefore, consistent with the national trend for increased usage (*75%) over a similar time period (Comer et al 2010).…”