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Autism Spectrum Disorders: Pharmacotherapy for Challenging Behaviors

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Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders, a group of five conditions with similar behavioral characteristics, have received increasing research attention in recent years. Treatments have been successful at least to remediate or improve some symptoms, and the amount of research on the topic has been escalating very rapidly. The two primary forms of intervention studied the most to date have been applied behavior analysis and behavior therapy, and psychopharmacology. The purpose of this paper was to review efficacy of this latter category: drug related interventions for challenging behaviors. Effectiveness of these treatments based on the available research literature are reviewed with respect to current strengths and weaknesses of various psychotropic drug interventions. Trends in the data and potential future directions for research are discussed, including types of drugs used, targets for intervention, the future of combined behavior and drug interventions, and the measurement of side effects in psychopharmacology.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Johnny L. Matson & Timothy Dempsey

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Matson, J.L., Dempsey, T. Autism Spectrum Disorders: Pharmacotherapy for Challenging Behaviors. J Dev Phys Disabil 20, 175–191 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-007-9088-y

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