Carbamazepine in aggressive children with conduct disorder: a double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE

To assess critically the short-term efficacy and safety of carbamazepine in the reduction of aggressiveness in children with diagnosed conduct disorder.

METHOD

Subjects were children aged 5 to 12 years who were hospitalized for treatment-resistant aggressiveness and explosiveness and who had diagnosed conduct disorder. The study was double-blind and placebo-controlled, using a parallel-groups design. Following a 2-week placebo baseline period, children who met the aggression criteria were randomly assigned to treatments for 6 weeks; the study ended with a 1-week posttreatment placebo period. Multiple raters rated the children independently, using multiple rating scales under four conditions. The main outcome measures included the Overt Aggression Scale, the Global Clinical Judgments (Consensus) Scale, and the Children's Psychiatric Rating Scale.

RESULTS

Twenty-two children, aged 5.33 to 11.7 years, completed the study. Carbamazepine was not superior to placebo at optimal daily doses ranging from 400 to 800 mg, mean 683 mg, at serum levels of 4.98 to 9.1 micrograms/mL. Untoward effects associated with administration of carbamazepine were common.

CONCLUSIONS

In this modest sample of children, the superiority of carbamazepine over placebo in reducing aggressive behavior was not demonstrated.