Behavioral treatment of hyperkinetic children. An experimental evaluation of its usefulness.

Although drug therapy is helpful in the control of many children with hyperkinesia, alternative and adjunctive therapies are needed also, for a number of reasons: 1) not all of these children improve with medication; 2) the drugs may have adverse physiologic effects which at the least dictate caution in their use; 3) medication alone does not always return responding children to normal functioning; and 4) drug action cannot often be used to help with problems occurring in the children's home setting after school hours. The data here presented suggest strongly that behavior therapy can be effective for hyperkinesia.