Institute Overview
AACAP’s 2016 Pediatric Psychopharmacology Update Institute, Translating Evidence-Based Studies into Clinical Practice, links newly published findings on the treatment of ADHD, bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and substance use disorders, with practical implementations in treating youth with these disorders.
Nine top child and adolescent psychiatric researchers detail their approaches to treatment with the latest psychiatric medications, discussing medication selection, starting doses, trial periods for determining effectiveness, and expected adverse events and challenges in patient compliance. They review the latest data that address the balance of benefit to risk in using first-line psychotropic medications, including the second generation antipsychotics and stimulant medications, in the treatment of youth. In addition to the known, FDA-approved treatments, the speakers describe new medications that are now in the drug development pipeline.
At the end of the Institute, clinicians will have thoroughly reviewed current publications on psychopharmacologic treatments for youth so they can discuss how efficacy, safety, and outcome data is translated into clinical practice.
Educational Learning Objectives
- Discuss the latest evidence-based psychopharmacology data that illustrates the balance of drug effectiveness to treatment-emergent adverse events during the treatment of psychiatric disorders in youth, which can be found with stimulant medications, second generation antipsychotic medications, lithium, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
- List the first- and second-line psychopharmacological medication choices and dose ranges for youth who present with ADHD, depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, substance use disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and sleep disorders.
- Present the starting doses of pediatric psychopharmacological agents, their titration plans, how long a medication needs to be tried before switching to another medication, and the methods of phasing in a new medication while withdrawing the other.
- List the barriers that mitigate against the successful treatment with psychiatric medications for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders, as well as possible solutions.
- Describe the type of laboratory tests needed to monitor for treatment-emergent adverse events that are associated with the use of second generation antipsychotics, stimulants, anticonvulsants, and lithium.
- Give examples of treatment challenges that arise when applying clinical trial data into practice when treating child and adolescent patients with ADHD, sleep disorders, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, or anxiety disorders.
- State different approaches to the treatment of youth with substance use disorders, how alternative formulations of the same stimulant medication may have different risks for diversion and misuse (e.g. the immediate release preparations versus the long duration preparations), and of these, which formulations are safest to prescribe for youth of college or transitional age.