Child Psychopharmacology – Gaps in Knowledge

Child psychopharmacology is a relatively new field. The 1937 publication by CharlesBradley reporting the effects of administering racemic amphetamine sulphate to 30children 5 to 14 years of age with various behavioural disturbances is usuallyconsidered to mark the beginning of the modern era of child psychopharmacology.The rapid growth of child psychopharmacology has been nothing short of beingphenomenal. Not only have the types of medications available increaseddramatically, but so have their annual rates of production and prescription. But Thereis, however, inadequate research on the physiological and behavioural effects ofpsychoactive medications; their long term effects, the mechanisms of their action,their side effects and their interactions with other treatments, both pharamacologicaland psychoeducational.