Waschbusch Daniel A, Pelham William E, Waxmonsky James, Johnston Charlotte
Departments of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo-SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2009 Apr;30(2):158-68. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e31819f1c15.
Placebos have been shown to produce significant positive changes in several health and mental health problems, referred to as placebo effects. Although it is well established that stimulant medication is an empirically supported treatment for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little is known about the role of placebos in the medication treatment of children with ADHD. This article reviews existing studies that evaluate whether placebos produce significant changes in children with ADHD. Published literature and the author's own empirical work were used to evaluate whether placebo effects are present in the medication treatment of children with ADHD. There is little evidence that placebos produce significant changes in the behavior or cognition of elementary school-age children with ADHD. However, there may be significant placebo effects in adults who evaluate children with ADHD. Evidence suggests that parents and teachers tend to evaluate children with ADHD more positively when they believe the child has been administered stimulant medication and they tend to attribute positive changes to medication even when medication has not actually been administered. Several viable mechanisms for these placebo effects are suggested.
安慰剂已被证明能在一些健康和心理健康问题上产生显著的积极变化，这被称为安慰剂效应。虽然兴奋剂药物是治疗注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）儿童的一种经实证支持的疗法，这一点已得到充分证实，但对于安慰剂在ADHD儿童药物治疗中的作用却知之甚少。本文回顾了评估安慰剂是否能在ADHD儿童中产生显著变化的现有研究。已发表的文献以及作者自己的实证研究被用于评估在ADHD儿童的药物治疗中是否存在安慰剂效应。几乎没有证据表明安慰剂能在患有ADHD的小学适龄儿童的行为或认知上产生显著变化。然而，在评估ADHD儿童的成年人中可能存在显著的安慰剂效应。有证据表明，当家长和教师认为孩子已服用兴奋剂药物时，他们往往会对患有ADHD的儿童给予更积极的评价，而且即使实际上并未给药，他们也倾向于将积极变化归因于药物。文中提出了这些安慰剂效应的几种可行机制。
