Multimodality treatment. A one-year follow-up of 84 hyperactive boys.

This study reports findings at the end of the first year of a three-year prospective study of 84 hyperactive boys. A multidimensional approach to evaluation and an individualized multimodality treatment plan commensurate with each child's disabilities was used. Treatment plans were implemented by members of the research staff working together as a coordinated therapeutic team. Measures of the child's behavior at home and at school, academic performance, delinquent behavior, and emotional adjustment were obtained initially and at one year. Results suggest that the combination of a clinically useful medication with appropriate psychological treatments simultaneously directed to each of the child's many disabilities is associated with an unexpectedly good outcome. Whether this will continue to be true when these children are followed up over a longer period of time awaits further investigation.